Remember Miriam Quotes Part One

Nancy Leigh Demoss is doing a wonderful series on Miriam, Moses' sister. To listen from the beginning and at your own pace you can go here. I copied and pasted a few of my favorite parts so I could remember what God is teaching me during this journey. You know the minute I get discouraged or feel like God has forgotten about us, it never fails that God uses that time to encourage and spur me on. I am encouraged by Nancy's teachings, a phone call from a friend telling me that God laid us on their heart and they wanted to call to check on us, a song on the radio, and time spent in the Word. All of these remind me that God has not forgotten about us, that He does have a plan and we just need to wait, with faith, on Him. I put in bold and italics our new family motto. If you know me at all you should not have a problem realizing the one that struck a chord with me.

Maybe these quotes will bless you too. Beware it's a lot of material so if you don't have time to read it all, come back when you can or listen to them on the website at your own pace. This series will bless you I promise.

From: Parenting Under Providence

What is God’s providence? We’re going to see it in spades in this passage. God sees ahead. Pro- vidance: pro = before, voidance = vision. God has vision. He can see things ahead, and He makes provision for what’s coming that only He sees and knows.

You could break the word down this way: Pro-vidence—God’s providence. He provides for what He knows is coming. He’s always orchestrating the circumstances and events of our lives to fulfill His purposes.

As we continue in this account in Exodus 2, I want you to look for evidences of God’s providential hand and care. The thing about providence is that most often you can’t see it when you’re in the midst of the circumstances. You only see it when you look back.

That’s why we need to trust now, when we can’t see what God is doing, knowing that one day we will see and we will understand that God was not oblivious. He was not inactive. He was not asleep on His throne. He was very actively involved, knowing what was going on and working to make provision.

Let God write the script. Let Him do it His way


From: The Seeds of Faith
Someone has said that God's will is exactly what we would choose if we knew what God knows, and that's the heart of providence. It's knowing that God does see, and God does know. It's trusting His heart when we can't see His hand.

It's saying, “Lord, when I can step back in time or eternity and look back on all this, I will see You did all things well, and so now when I'm in the midst of this furnace or this Red Sea or this loss of a child or this oppression of mental, emotional, physical—whatever the enemy is, whatever the obstacle is—I trust that You are here. You are working. You are moving. You are accomplishing Your purposes, that if I knew now what You know now, I would say, 'Lord, You're not making a mistake.'”

You wait patiently, and you don't manipulate. You don't—well, I want to say you don't whine, although I have done some whining. I will confess. Let's see, what do you do? You . . .

Woman 3: . . . say, “Thank You.”

Nancy: You say, “Thank You.” You say, “Lord, I will praise You. My mouth will exalt You all the time, regardless of what I feel, regardless of what's going on. I will bless the Lord at all times.”

You wait, and you let God be God. You say, “In time, I will see, and I will know.” If not in time in this life, then in the next I will see that God was glorifying Himself and was blessing me. God loves us. He does want to bless us, His children, and these things will come to be for our good and for His glory.

For those of us that have done cross-stitch or needlepoint, so many times, and mine in particular, you look to the backside, and it's all knotted. It is not a very pretty picture. That's how we look at life sometimes, but God is up here. He's looking down on that needlepoint picture at what a perfect, beautiful picture it is.




From The Spotlight Is On God

So we learn a lot. When we’re obeying God, we’re blessed, and God can use us. When we go outside God’s plan and God’s place for our lives, then we will suffer consequences.

It reminds me of what Romans 15 says:

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (verse 4).

Listen, we don’t need all those extraneous stories to give us hope. We have the Word of God. And through the encouragement of God’s Word, we have hope.

Another Song In My Head

Oh yes, I love a rainy night and I praise God for the rain.

In My Neck Of the Woods.

I am getting my book list together for another Fall Into Reading Challenge hosted by Callapidder Days. Click here to find out the details and join too if you want. The more the merrier.

I am enjoying my computer free weekends but I did spend 30 minutes on Saturday checking email and reading a blog or two. I never realized how dependent I was to my computer until I gave it up two days a week. Saturday morning instead of reading through many blogs I finished my book. I think I enjoyed reading my book, curled up in my favorite chair, sipping on a cup of coffee more.

Which reminds me of another change in my schedule, I clean the house on Fridays so that I can spend Saturday and Sunday doing the things I love rather than housework.

The Charger game last night was sad. Two seconds left in the game and they loose it by a touch down. Two seconds. Sad.

Jeff and I have a rekindled our love for a good game of Spades. We have been playing it a lot with Matt and Meredith. Boys against girls. The girls always win yet this past Saturday it was a very close match. Meredith and I are going to have to step up our game. As we were driving home Saturday Jeff and I talked about how much we wanted to cherish this time with M&M before nephew Jacob comes to town. I know it has been a sweet time for all four of us.

Jeff and I went to look at a house on Saturday. Three words. way...too...small. We are still looking. Praise God for the fact that no fights have broke out with Jeff and I as we look for houses. Oh what a difference a year will make and lots and lots of prayer.

Have a happy Monday. I am off to get a presentation together for work and praying that the week not be as hectic as it may turn out to be. Oh well, I will take it all one step at a time.

Weekend To Do List

1. Dinner at the Burger Box with my Dad and Hubs.
2. Laundry and other household chores
3. Read Belong to Me
4. File New Catalog Pictures that are sitting in my living room/office
5. Enjoy the nice weather
6. walk a mile or two
7. small group at this chicks house (can't wait to see the new walls A!)
8. Rent a movie at the Red Box
9. Sunday afternoon nap
10. And last but not least Charger football

See you on Monday! Have a great weekend

Turning My Frown Upside Down

Do you ever have those mornings where you hate life? Where you just want to be mad or grumpy? Sometimes I wake up and I hate the monotony of daily life. It didn't help my mood walking into a dirty kitchen either. I am the only one to blame for this. I chose to wait until morning to clean since today was Jeff's coffee day with the guys.

I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen which helped my mood a little.
Then I took a shower and got dressed (make up included) which helped me even more. And finally, I turned on the radio to put a little praise up in this house which always helps.

Today it was like God designed the play list just for me. They were played in the following order.

1. Voice of Truth- Casting Crowns
2. Miracle of the Moment- Steven Curtis Chapman
3. Everlasting God- Lincoln Brewster

And let me just say that each of these songs reminded me of why I am blessed and need to enjoy this day. I said to myself, "Live in the moment girlfriend!"

So when my Dad called to see if I wanted to meet him for lunch I said, "Heck yeah! let's go!"

And can I tell you that God has been so good to little ole me. It's a blessing to be able to sit across from my dad while laughing and talking about the happenings in our world. And then to later walk away from that lunch feeling like everything is right with the world. And as many of you know already that in itself is a miracle from above.

Thank you God for today! You have blessed me abundantly.

(If you need your frown turned upside down today, click on the links to watch the songs on YouTube!)

Life: Beautiful

I found this pillow yesterday while reading the latest issue of Life:Beautiful. If you haven't seen it, take a moment to click on the link. This is a Christan magazine by James Dobson, Joyce Meyer and Dr. Gary Smalley. I love it!

One of my favorite features is an advertisement by this woman. I love to browse through her online portfolio. Last night when I saw this pillow and quote from Eleanor Roosevelt I decided to adopt her quote as my new motto. I know I am not perfect by any means and fall into the small mind category way too often but my goal is to be a great mind at least 95% of the time.

I think that is a goal worth striving for don't you?

Trying Something New

Hey Friends and Family and Blogland Readers-

Starting this weekend, I am doing something new. I am turning off the computer starting Friday at 6:00 pm and won't turn it on again until Monday at 9:00 am. I am telling you all this since many of you I talk to on a daily basis via email. Please feel free to call my cell phone or house phone during the weekend, I am just a phone call away. But I won't have access to the email on the weekends so if you need me, ring the tellie!

To some of you this may sound a bit over the top but like I think I have mentioned before I am trying to find balance in my daily life; letting go of the computer on the weekend is one of the ways I hope to obtain a bit of peace.

So with that being said, have a great weekend and I will catch you on the flip side.

Pray for me, letting go of the computer is like telling the crackhead to give up the good stuff cold turkey! No not really that bad, I just typed the first thing that popped into my head. LOL!

Maybe the next habit I need to break is thinking before I type or speak.

Slow down Susan, take it one habit at a time, don't get all carried away now.

Have a great weekend!

Song in My Head

Jeff quoted a song the other day that I just can't seem to get out of my head now.

Thanks Jeff.

Funny that he quoted this song just before we did our Fantasy Football Draft.

And now I can't seem to get it out of my head. So if you get this song stuck in your head today because of me, well, you're welcome!

Proof That God is In the Details

I have been worried about Granny the past few weeks. Her health is not good and she really needs to have someone with her to help her while my grandfather is at work. This summer sweet cousin Martha stayed over there and helped Granny with light housekeeping, laundry and meals. But more than anything, Martha was Granny's little buddy for the summer. Well, little cousin Martha went back to school this week so Granny was going to need help finding someone to stay with her.

The family has spent the past two weeks trying to locate someone by word of mouth and asking around to a few of our contacts in the area. Between my aunt, mom, brother and I we know quite a few people in the area someone was bound to show up.

Instead of worrying about it, I trusted that God was in the details of this situation, like it says in Psalms 37:23 (The New Living Translation)

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives."

Anytime I started to doubt, I told myself that God delights in the details of our lives!

Sunday morning I woke up praying for God to direct us to someone that would be able to provide care for my sweet Granny. I thought of one person and told God that if so and so was supposed to be that person than bring them to church on Sunday so I can ask her face to face. She didn't come.

And so I continued to pray and trust God to iron out all the details. Today I called Granny to see if she needed anything picked up at the grocery store and to see how her doctor's appointment went yesterday.

Well the doctor's appointment was good y'all, real good.

She and my aunt had made an appointment to talk to her doctor about getting her approved for home health care. The doctor said, "Whatever you need-don't worry-I will set it up."

I asked Granny what the cost would be out of pocket. And she said "None, medicare covers it."

I asked when will it get started and she said by next week hopefully.

So see, no need to worry God is still in the details.

And as my great-grandmother MOM would saying PTL! PTL!

PTL stands for PRAISE THE LORD!

See...

God is still in the details!

5 Lessons I Am Learning Theses Days

They say that you never stop learning even after you finish school. In honor of many of my favorite little friends and nieces starting school this week I compiled a list of things I am learning these days.

1. I am learning what it means to have a gentle and quiet spirit when you are not typically a quiet person.

2. I am learning how to take time out for me and say no. I recently cleared off many items on my to-do list and I feel wonderful. I will post more about this later.

3. I have learned that my husband flourishes when I encourage him rather than nag.

Side note: Have you encouraged your spouse today? If you need help try the 30 Day challenge, it will be a huge blessing I gurantee it.

4. I am learning that when I am restless on what the future holds I tend to cover up these feelings with busyness. (See #2) Instead of the go, go, go mentality I am learning-slowly learning- how to rest in God's plan and relax heart, mind, soul.

5. I am learning that life is meant to be enjoyed one step at a time. I am learning what it means to be happy and content in the moment wheter than waiting on certain things to bring me happiness.

My Theme Song

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I did not feel thankful but when I was talking to my friend who wrote the poem below, she reminded me of something I taught her a few months back. You see, I keep a prayer journal and in it I try to write at least one thing I am thankful for from time to time. Reading my words never fails to lift my spirits on my down days. I can always fall back on my written thoughts and realize how blessed I truly am.

Here is what I am thankful for today.

1. Christan community- I don't know how people can through the ups and downs of life without fellow believers around them. What a blessing it is to have people around us who can love us, encourage us, prayer with us in every season of our lives.

2. Growth-I am thankful for the growth in my husband. I am thankful for the growth in myself. I am thankful for the growth in our marriage.

3. Grace- I am thankful for friends and family who are willing to offer me grace when I fail them. I am thankful that God's grace is bigger than my humanness.

4. The Cross- This summer while doing the study A Woman's Heart, I was reminded again of the significance of God sending His Son to die on the cross. We are blessed to have this free gift given to us.

5. His Word- I love it when I sit down to read the bible and a scripture jumps out at me that is just what I needed for that moment. It just goes to show that there is truth in the scripture that says "Gods word is living and active."

To join in with your list see Iris at String My Heart.

And God Is There Yet Again

Emotions running high, I found myself on my knees early this morning. When the phone rings and a friend from church is on the other line, I tried to act happy but the minute she asked me how I was doing I cried.

Long story short, God used this woman to minister directly to me. Later in the day I receive an email from her with an original piece of poetry. Whether or not it was written for me is unclear but the verse she used at the end is the verse that I have been resting in over the past few months. I praise God for Christian community because it never fails when you need them someone is there. I deleted the author's name just in case she wants to remain anonymous but most of you from church (past or present) should recognize the writing style of this sweet, sweet woman.

Nestled Beneath God’s Wing

If only I were there with you,
You’d know how much I care;
But ‘til I am, I’ll lift you up
And whisper in my prayer. . .

“Give her, Lord, a glimpse of You
That she might understand,
While troubles press on every side,
She’s held within Your hands.

Embraced by You, and nestled close,
She’s tucked beneath Your wing;
Seeking refuge in Your arms,
Her Protector, Lord and King.

And then, Lord, in Your small still voice
Unlike she’s ever heard,
Encourage her with promises
Revealed within Your word.

So when in times she cannot feel
Your presence by her side,
She’ll find the grace to draw upon
Through faith that You provide.”

So every day I’ll pray for you
Whether near or far apart;
Lifting you up to our Lord
While I hold you in my heart.

Psalm 91:4

Sprucing Up the Blog

I stumbled on a great find to help me spruce up my blog without costing me a dime.

Click here to spruce up your own blog and it's FREE.

Try it out and let me know I would love to see your blogs new look!

Happy Tuesday!

"Wheter you turn to the right or to the left your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying "this is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21

I am praying for God to come and guide me. I am praying for the right door to be opened so that there is no doubt that this is the direction in which Jeff and I need to move ahead.

Over the past two weeks, I have been tired, run down, moody and frustrated with life as a whole. I put God on a shelf for a bit because I choose to take out my frustrations on Him. I am tired of waiting and I am tired of being told no, not yet. I have been praying for God to release us from this season of our life but have been too terrified to move ahead.

This weekend I went away for a weekend of cropping (scrapbooking for those who don't know that term), chatter and food. When I left all I wanted from this weekend was a time of rest. I wanted to get away from all the craziness surrounding my life. It has been nuts not only on the outside but on the inside as well. Let's just say that God used Friday and Saturday to draw me closer to Him. I opened my journal on Friday and was reading a few of my past entries.

A few weeks ago when Jodi called to tell me about Baby Brooklyn I hung up the phone and immediately got on my knees to pray for my sweet friend and her unborn child. After I finished praying, I pulled out my bible and came across three verses. I remember reading them thinking man these are perfect for Jodi and David's situation. And yet when I read them this weekend I thought to myself man this is perfect for Jeff and my situation.

The first is written above.

The second is Isaiah 42: 16, "I will lead the blind by ways they have not know, unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."

The third is Isaiah 58:8-9, "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer, you will cry for help and he will say, "Here I am."

These verses reminded me that God is not only guiding us but He is near. It told me that when the dark days come that God will be there, He will not forsake me. And when I cry to Him for help he will answer, "Here I am."

I don't know about you but isn't that the epitome of a blessed assurance to know that God is near in good times and bad? After I read these verses, I had to just stop and praise God for His nearness. I praised God for Him faithfulness to me even though I distanced myself from Him for two weeks. I came away from this weekend with clear answers to the path that God is choosing and I am praying for the open doors so that there is no doubt in both Jeff and my mind that this is the way that we should go.

I will keep you posted.

Welcome to Procrasitnation Station

Should I be blogging right now? NO!

Instead I should be building a few catalogs, calling a few of my clients, entering an order or two, doing a few spreadsheets for the team meeting tomorrow and don't even get me started about the list of housework that is still needed to be done.

But I don't want to do any of these things and so I have turned off the box that flashes in the corner of my screen to let me know when an email is coming through and have turned off my ringer for a spell. Not to mention hiding the phone under a load of paperwork so that I wouldn't have to see the blinking light saying, "Incoming Call! Incoming Call! Incoming Call!"

And people wonder why I don't answer the phone after 6 pm or on weekends?

It has been nuts, friends! Nuts.

And the truth is I have no reason to post expect for the part where I am trying to avoid everything that looks, smells or feels like work or house work. I know I am not the only one who chooses blogging over housework and such.


Did you know that I have posted 500 posts? Yes that's right...five.hundred!

That's a lot of chatter if you ask me.

Maybe I should change the blog name to Procrastination Station. Nah! And do you want to know why I won't change the name? Well, it is truly random and not particularly spiritual so be warned. But sometimes when I comment or what not my blog name will get abbreviated and only show a portion of my full title..."Blessed Ass" So that is why I will never change my blog name.

And on that note, I close my 500Th post!

Thanks for reading 500 of these crazy things.

I realize that most are random and make no sense and aren't really all that funny be/c they fall under the you had to be there category but you came, your read and you probably never will come back again.

Oh well, can't win them all.

Now have a blessed day!

~Signed-Blessed Ass

Happy Thoughts

Life has been a little crazy lately. I have found myself being more frustrated than joyful the last few days.

In an effort to change my thought process I decided to complie a list of happy thoughts.

1. I am going away for a girls weekend in three days. I love time away with my girlfriends and I love the fact that I have a husband who encourages me to go.
2. Yesterday after being out of town the past two Sundays, our church was full of hugs and glad to see ya's when we walked in the door. I love being a part of a church that feels like an extension of my family.
3. The Olympic success-makes me proud to be American
4. Good friends who pray together in good times and bad.
5. an upcoming weekend get away with the Hubs
6. Charger football coming soon
7. Fall weather in general (I will be ready for cooler weather)
8. The new Eddie Bauer catalog came in the mail last week. I love this store!
9. Hubs and I are also finally discussing moving plans. I am almost afraid that by mentioning it I will somehow cause us to hit the pause button yet again but things are finally falling together. I continue to pray that the Lord will release us from this phase of our life.
10. When I find myself getting down on the waiting period, I turn to 1 Cor. 4:16-18 and remind myself that all that is going on right now is only temporary and working a bigger purpose that I can't see. Reminding myself of this gives me hope for tomorrow and allows me to keep pushing ahead.

8-8-08

Today is a good day. Today is the day that I look forward to every four years...the Summer Olympics

Here are the things that I look forward to:

1. Melissa singing on the opening ceremony stage...I am so proud of that girl!
2. Today Show coverage of the events.
3. Swimming
4. Diving
5. Gymnastics (I am bummed that the Hamm brothers are out, poor guys)
6. all the fun back stories that they play between events
7. Men's Basketball
8. The parade of nations.

What are you looking forward to? I could list a bunch more but I am sticking with the number 8.

Whoops!

I have been known to say the wrong word in a sentence from time to time. Most times I don't even catch it until someone processes what I just said and says, "Did you just say....?"

And usually my reply is, "Was that wrong?"

Which leads to Jeff giving me the proper word that I meant to use and explains the definition of the other word that I said incorrectly.

Well...

When we were at NASA the other day they had a flight simulator that you could ride to experience what an astronaut feels when they launch. But for the longest time I did not say it correctly nor did I catch myself saying it wrong until both hubby and his brother said, "Did you just say Flight stimulator!"

"What?! That's not correct?!"

Oh how we all laughed when I realized my mistake.

Jeff even said, "You better put THAT on the blog!"

So there you go, hope you had a good laugh at my expense!

:)

Florida Pictures

Naval Museum:


Epcot:
Nasa:
Magic Kingdom:
Animal Kingdom:
Animal Kingdom after the rain cleared, Matt & Meredith decided to go to Magic Kingdom instead
A Day at the Beach: Notice Jeff and Meredith's preggo picture

exhausted

We had a great time in Florida. It was a fun bonding experience for all of us and well now I am pooped and my sides hurt from laughing so hard. Truly God blessed us with a great bonding experience.

I tried to blog about the trip while on the road but I had to pay to use the internet and we never had time to blog, it was go-go-go from start to finish. We got home today at 3 in the morning. And yes, I had to work today.

I am trying hard to get pictures loaded to the Road Trip blog but I think blogger is pooped too because so far, I've got nothing.

I will try at a later time for now, I am off to bed.

Gone.

We will see you all when we get back from Disney. I may be posting a few things on the ROAD TRIP blog during the trip to let our parents know that we made it and are safe. But for this blog, well, it will be silent for the next 10 days. I don't think it has ever gone that long without a post. Oh well, who cares! I'm going to see Mickey Mouse.

See You Later Aligator!

I Love the My Early Morning Walks

Yesterday on my morning run, I brought along my small camera so you could meet a few of my running buddies. Say hello to all my little friends.

This duck was playing a game of hide and seek with me. I won.


This duck was splashing in the puddle, unfortunatley my small camera is very slow so you only get to see him walking off after he finished.


I like to think that these two ducks are my cheering squad. They stand at the road and cheer me on when I start running, "Go Susan Go!"


There is also a small family that I had the pleasure of walking cross the road in a single file line today. Unfortunatley my small camera was at the house so I didn't get a picture.

And now I am off to eat a slice of Jeff's chocolate fudge birthday cake. One of the benefits of running is you can have a slice of cake and not feel guilty for it. Now two or three slices is a whole other story. :)

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.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

This is a picture of Jeff (the birthday boy) trying out his skills of Karaoke for the first time.

J-

How proud I am to be your wife. You amaze me every single day with your witty remarks and your words of wisdom. My favorite one this week was when we were planning where we would stay the first night on our road trip and you said, "If we are just looking for a place to do the 3 S's then this place will work perfect." When I asked you what the 3 S's stood for I should have known not to ask b/c you said, "Shower, Shave and S----." And then there are those moments where you say something in regards to God and life in general and I am just stand there in awe of what God is doing through and in you.

When I was a little girl I prayed for my future husband often. Not too long ago, I came across the original list that I wrote and I was able to mark off everyone. Thank ya Jesus!

Here are a few from that list:

• someone to make me laugh
• someone who is good with kids
• someone who is my best friend
• someone who is good with money
• someone who loves traditions as much as me
• someone who doesn't smoke or get drunk
• someone who loves Jesus

Jeff you are a blessing to me! I am proud to be your wife and I am enjoying watching God transform you from the inside out. Here's to another year of you! May God continue to manifest His presence in your life.

I love you!

S

Let's Get Real-Can We?

I have been thinking about the words found in James 5:13-16 the last few months. I read it not too long ago and could not remember where I read that verse. Don't you hate that? Well with the help of my trusty concordance and a heap of prayer I found it two weeks ago. There are many people that I want to share this verse with, who read the blog, so for time sake, I will write it all here.


The New Living Translations says it best:

"Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

I call it the getting real verse. I believe there is much power when we are able to admit that we are struggling, rejoicing or we have sinned.

Let me see if I can simplify my thoughts regarding this verse:

1. Why are we afraid to ask for help when we know we could really use it?
2. Why do we pretend we have it all together when the truth is we are falling apart?
3. Why are we afraid to let others walk along side us in our time of need?
4. Why do we sometimes find ourselves avoiding those who are hurting instead of walking along side them?
5. How can we encourage and love those walking through a rough season.

I have learned in the past two years that there is NOTHING wrong with asking for help. I have been blessed to be surrounded by friends who can see through the "I'm fine or I'm good" answer. Every time I admit that I am struggling and ask for help, God brings someone into my life to offer a word of encouragement or a phone call out of the blue to tell me they have been praying for me.

I believe that every human being has seasons of good and bad. I think that if we allowed ourselves to open up in the bad times we would find that supporting someone else in there bad times would be easier for us, less uncomfortable. I believe that God encourages us to lay down the all is well with me mask and let our true selves show through so that we can be healed. And then, in return one day we will be able to help someone else in their time of need. So let's get real peeps and quit trying to act like we are picture perfect. Isn't that what the Christian community is all about?


And can I say another thing that has been running through my head? Let's look at the life of Jesus. Jesus had 12 disciples that went with him everywhere he went. He padres so to speak. But how many people did he have when he went to pray in the garden? (Matthew 26:37) Three! And so I say this as an encouragement to those of you out there who are a little more private. You don't have to share the deepest hurts and pain with every Tom, Dick and Harry or Sally, Sue and Mary. If you are hurting, if you are rejoicing, if you are sick, if you are falling to pieces at the seams, if you are blessed in the season I pray that you have that one person or three, to pray for you in your time of need, whatever that need maybe. You know safe people that you are able to say, "Pray with me, I am desperate!" or "Rejoice with me-God has blessed me!"

And I pray, oh how I pray that in return we are able to be a person where people want to come to us in good times and bad.


Alright, that is all for now!

Rock on my friends, rock on! :)

Why I Haven't Been Blogging...

• I leave for Disney World in 5 days...I am busy packing
• I am playing on Facebook instead
• I have started turning off my computer at 8 p.m and am happy to report our electric bill went down $3 by doing so
• Project Runway started this week
• My team leaves for the Las Vegas furniture show in 3 days and I have been busy getting all the reports and spreadsheets done in a timely manner. By the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer.
• Jeff and I have been shopping at Goodwill and Thrift Town for fun logo t-shirts to wear on our trip. The other day they had a 1/2 off sale at Goodwill, I didn't buy anything but it was fun to watch the people dive for clothes and fight over furniture. What can I say, I love to be where the action is!

I will be back soon, please don't worry about us we are alive and having fun!

5 Things: Jeff's Thoughts On Pregnancy

Jeff has said a few things regarding pregnancy, raising children and newborn baby sleeping arrangements in the last few weeks that have left me feeling a little nervous about how he is going to handle when our time comes. Thankfully Jeff's family has decided that they would do me a favor and start praying without ceasing for me.

I guarantee that the following stories will make you want to do the same for me. LOL!

So in honor of Cousin Britt's birthday today...here goes nothing.

1. Brandy (Britt's mom) had a wort removed the week that Maudie first went into the hospital. Brandy came from the doctor's appointment to the hospital and was wearing a pair of flip flops. First off who doesn't wear flip flops when you are nine months pregnant and top it off the middle of summer? First thing out of Jeff's mouth after hearing she had a wort removed, "And you are wearing flip flops to a hospital?!?" Brandy laughed and says, "Cous, look at my feet!" And then he says..."S*&t! Your feet are fat! I have never seen feet that fat before." This was the first comment where we realized that Jeff is absolutely clueless to the life of a pregnant woman.

2. Maternity Wear- Jeff asks his sister, "Can you wear the same outfit the whole way time?" Which we took to believe that I was going to get one pair of maternity jeans and shirt to wear the whole nine months, every day. But it all fairness, he was talking about if you buy a pair of maternity pants will they stretch out the whole time.

3. Baby's Crib- Meredith found a crib on Craig's list that was a great deal. The lady wanted to include the babies mattress in the deal. Jeff said, "Jump on it, sister! That is a deal!" Which made us all just stop and look at him. It wasn't like the mattress was wrapped in plastic and it wasn't like she knew the family. Meredith said, "That's gross, I can buy a baby mattress for next to nothing, I think that is what I am going to do instead." And Jeff says, "It's a baby! How dirty could they be?!?" Uh, mom's out there, why don't you tell us how dirty your little pooper can be!

The following were said to Brandy Saturday night, 2 days before she gave birth to baby Britt.

4. Inducing- Jeff says, "How does that work? Do they put a little Crisco down there to slide on through?" Thankfully, Brandy died laughing and told him she would let the doctor know about the new breakthrough.

5. Feeling Huge- As you can imagine, 2 days before you are about to give birth you feel huge and like Brandy says she feels like her skin is going to tear apart. Jeff later says to me, "I don't know why she is complaining. I am bigger than she is and you don't hear me complaining." Thankfully he was only joking when he said this.

And before anyone freaks out, Jeff loves to say stuff for shock value, I guarantee he will be just fine when my turn comes. He was just trying to get a laugh and another blog post...PROMISE!

You Know It's Summer When...

You spend most of your time in the pool to beat the heat.
Jeff cuts his hair into his summer cut.
You stay out at your in-laws super late helping Hayley catch frogs.
Meet Jacob and Esau (Hayley's named them not me. I wanted Big Guy and Little Guy)
And you ring in the forth by watching a few fireworks. (I took the picture)

And Jeff took this picture... You have to click on the picture to see the fireworks. Hee! Hee!


Happy Summer everyone!

I Don't Want To Forget the Memories...

Last night I spent the night with my grandparents. I was going over to hang out with them after Jeff left for work and hubs suggested I take my toothbrush and pj's so that I didn't feel like I had to rush home.

It was a nice surprise for my grandparents...who didn't kick me out even though Jeff teased that they might.

I knew I should have brought my camera b/c there were lots of funny moments I wished I would have captured.

Oh well I will store them in words here so that I can read them again one day.

1. Watching the Rangers do well then loose horribly to the Yankee's.
2. Hearing Granny call A-Rod's new fling a slut! Yes, she said "Slut." (If you don't know who I am talking about she sang Vogue, Cherish, Holiday)
3. Bonner declaring at 8 p.m that it was watermelon time and fixing us a big ole bowl to eat. I LOVE WATERMELON!
4. Bonner said a cuss word then quickly changed it to the child friendly term. So I told him I was now 30 I have heard those words before. Then Granny said, "We still don't want him to talk that way in front of the children." I guess I will always be a child to her. :)
5. Bonner went and restocked the candy jar when he heard I was coming to visit this week. He had my favorite, Reece's peanut butter cups piled high in that jar and insisted that 9 0'clock was candy time.
6. Going to bed in my "old room". Bonner offered to tuck me in but since I was not near ready for bed at 9:30 p.m, like he was, I told him I would be just fine tucking in myself this one time. He said, "Wake us if you need us, Ding-a-ling."
7. Waking up to the smell of coffee and sausage cooking. And finding that it wasn't Granny cooking but Bonner. Bonner even made biscuits and gravy and it was delicious. Who knew he could cook so well!
8. Bonner telling me, like he did in the old days, that he couldn't sleep last night because I was snoring too loud. And I responded like I did when I was little, "That snoring was not me it was YOU!"

We had so much fun last night that we decided to make this a regular event. There is something about the familiarity of spending the night with your favorite grandparents that makes me feel as if I was a kid again. And thankfully my husband works nights so I am free to spend the night with them as often as I like.

See how sweet life can be when you live in the present moment?

Enjoying the Downtime.

Above is a picture of the newest addition to the Crazy Cagle Cousins. Isn't He sweet?

Hayley told me after camp this year, where Couz Morgan was a counselor and where a few of my cousins stopped in to visit her, she said, "You have way too many cousins. Do you all know each other?"

Thank God for blog land because let's face it that is how we all stay connected these days. So much so that Granny B often will call and say "Did so and so update the blog today?" It cracks me up every time because who knew my 75 year oldish Granny would be so hip.

I will be back soon, promise.

Posts you can look forward to:

1) Top 5 Things Jeff has said regarding new babies. Let's just say his family is praying for me without ceasing after a few of the remarks he made in the last few days.

2) June Picture Show

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!

Yikes!

For the last two weeks I have been looking at the Deer Run website looking for pictures of Hayley Bailey. When we went to visit her on Sunday she pulled me aside and was telling me about the little boy she wanted to catch for Sadie Hawkins day. She said, "Aunt Susan, I wanted to give him a hug the other night but chickened out." In my mind I was thinking "YOU'RE ONLY 10!" But soon realized I was the same way when I was her age so I better just go with it and not freak out. Instead I told her I was proud of her for not hugging him first, a boy should ALWAYS make the first move!

So as I am looking through the pictures today and I realized that I may have found her Sadie's date. Do you see her in the pink? Do you see her hand resting on his shoulder?

OH MY GOODNESS!

I think my niece has her first Deer Run crush!

Is that her hand or the boy next to him? I am just wanting to make sure- I would hope that chick-a-dee would have listened to me Sunday. LOL!

Edited to add: After much debate between her Aunt Susan and Uncle Jeff we have declared the hand to NOT be hers. But you can gurantee that I will take this picture and find out who her Sadie's Date was this year.

And mom, did you have to mention that story....

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!

30 Days Later...

I am amazed that from the time that Maudie became our neighbor to her death today it has only been 30 days.

Three weeks ago she went into the hospital room where she later died with a bad case of pneumonia. Two weeks ago, we prayed with Maudie for her to be saved and learned that she had stage 4 lung cancer. One week ago, we were talking with the doctors about moving her to a rehab facility. And today she is dancing with the angels and swaying to the music with Pop.

What I learned from the past 30 days:
1. Prayer is a powerful tool
2. Trust your gut instincts when the Lord lays people on your heart to minister to.
3. When you get the feeling something big is about to take place get ready because it's true.
4. Building a relationship with a non-believer is one of the best ways to open the doors to talk about Jesus.
5. Cherish every moment with loved ones because you never know when it will be the last.

Moving forward...

I have a favor to ask of you. I want to put a book together for the Cherry Family and would like your help.

What is a scripture you cling to in times of mourning? What brings you comfort when you are facing a tough season in your life?

I am leaving this post up for a few days since we will obviously be busy. So please, please, please take a minute to give us a verse. I would love to knock there socks off with wonderful verses to carry them through this rough season.

In fact I will be the first to leave one. in the comments.

(Lurkers can comment too-ain't no shame in admitting you are out there!)

Maudie Is Home

Maudie has gone to be with Lord. It was a sweet moment in all of our lives, I will tell you more later. I just wanted to let you know so that you all could be in prayer for us. God has been good to us all during this time.

Thank you for praying us through this time.

Please keep jeff in your prayers, he is taking this very hard. We became very close to his grandmother during the past two years. Please pray that I would be open to letting him mourn as he needs to. Let's just say I like people around me and he, well, not so much. :)

Cardboard Testimony

Please watch the video first before reading on.

God has transformed Jeff's grandmother's life in the last two weeks. I can see God's love radiate through her even in her final days. All her life, she fought God. All her life, she chose not to follow His way. But last night after I sang "Jesus Loves Me" she said, "I wasted so many years."

What will your cardboard testimony be? When will you let God transfomr your life from the inside out? Don't waste your life chasing after those things that won't fill you. Don't wait until you are on your death bed to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If He is speaking listen. If He is calling you, come.

Oh and the little boy with special needs shown on the video is Brandy (Jeff's cousin) college roommate's little boy. We have prayed for Thomas for almost 3 years, he wasn't supposed to live past the age of two. God had other plans for that little boy. Proof that prayer works and that we should never give up hope!

No Break-God has other plans

Jeff and I received a call today telling us to get to the hospital to say our final goodbyes to his grandmother.

We both were floored by this news since yesterday she was just fine. We were able to have a very lengthy conversation about God's love and faithfulness. We reminded Maudie that God give us strength step by step and does not expect us to walk through life on our own. Jeff prayed with her before we left and his prayer was absolutely beautiful. He left me speechless.

As we headed to the hospital, I called two of my sweet friends to give me the pep talk I needed. Thank you friends! When we pulled into the parking lot, Jeff grabs my hand and begins to pray for whatever lies ahead. Again I was floored. Jeff has defiantly become a mighty prayer warrior over the past year in our time of waiting.

And today we sat around and waited, talked to a few doctors, fed her ice chips, prayed with her, prayed for family members and passed out Kleenexes (I carry tissues at all times during moments like this) Later while the family talked things over with the doctor, I sat with Maudie and talked to her about Heaven. I am so very encouraged by her belief in God. I am sure in recent weeks I will share a few of our conversations but for now I want to cherish them myself. Tie them up with a ribbon around my heart and hold on to them tightly for a bit. God has been faithful to answer my prayers and God has been faithful to provide me with words, scripture and strength for that moment. God is faithful to meet us in our present state-praise God for that!!!

I will keep you all posted since blogging is how are sweet family stays connected.

Continue to pray, we will need it.

Oh and Maudie asked me to sing at her funeral tonight, a task I am honored to do. Tonight I sang to her her favorite bible song (as she calls them), Jesus Loves Me. Is that not the best bible song ever written? And I sang to her my favorite bible song, It Is Well with My Soul. We cried through both but praise God I got to sing those two songs seeing the sweet expression on her face while doing so.

God is good. So very, very good.

pray for the young family...maudie is not long for this world...

Taking A Break To Get Back on Track

I wanted to show you our apartment in it's truest form as a means to give you all hope. It is okay to fall off the cleaning wagon from time to time. All work with no play is a boring way to live.

I am going to take a time out from the blog so I can get back on track.

Just looking at the mess leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed because I don't know what I should do first but I choose not to freak out.
Instead I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish, I will turn up my happy music, light a candle and set my timer so that I stay on task and do what I can in the time set aside. Step by step this mess will become a place again. And when I cross of a chore on my to do list, I will take a moment to do a happy jig since no housecleaning is complete without dancing a jig or two.

I will see you on the flip side.

He Ain't Gonna Win Don't Forget the Lyrics

Maybe you have heard the Ashlee Simpson song titled L.O.V.E. I love this song because it's just plain fun.

It must be a catchy tune because I just caught Jeff singing it.

But he was singing his version and not Ashlee's.

Instead of singing L-O, L-O, L-O, L-O V-E Jeff sings Hell-o, Hell-O, Hell-O, Hello-O Beep, Beep

Here is the video so that you can hear the real version. Jeff thinks his version is better, what do you think?

I Applaude You!

Over the last two days I have had a few conversations with young mothers who are worn out and feeling a bit overwhelmed.

If that is you, then please read on.

I wanted to let you all know that I am very, very proud of you. And even when you feel like you are failing miserably in the parenting department, you aren't. I promise! Because at the end of the day, you are able to walk back into the room and see that sweet baby face sleeping ever so gently and all the love comes rushing back. The love you feel in that brief moment is just enough to get you through one more day with you sweet tod.

I am studying the Israelites time in the desert this summer and today I read about God providing them with manna by day and quail by night. God tells them that He will give them just enough for that day and I believe the same can be true for you too. God will give you enough strength to make it through today. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that God's mercies are new every morning. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

Sweet friends, be encouraged today because the Lord is with you. The Lord delights in every detail of your life. (Psalms 37: 23) So commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. (Psalms 37: 7-8, I paraphrased)

Don't give up sweet friends. You can do this-cherish these moments with your young, stubborn, hyperactive, need to discipline every five minutes child-because one day they will grow up and be older versions of what they are today (stubborn, hyperactive, need to discipline every five minutes).

I love you all and am praying for each and everyone of you today.
You Can Do IT!!!!!!

God bless your journey!
Susan

Sometimes I Get Some Strange Calls...

like today, I get a call from one of my dealers who would like to return his chairs because they smell like vomit.

Yes vomit.

I swear I have never heard that one before today.

I am now in the process of ordering a few replacement chairs to send out ASAP.

I don't think I want to know what goes on at our factory! :)

I Scared the UPS Guy!

First off, Melissa rocked the house last night on Nashville Star. She was the best hands down. She received a standing O from the judges and Jeff and Susan on the other side of the screen. If she doesn't win, I will never watch this show again. In fact, the only reason I am watching this show is because of her, I am not a Nashville Star follower. I guarantee you that I will be if Melissa gets her big break. Did you know that she tried out for AI and got booted in Hollywood? BOO! HISS! I almost gave up AI after that...I said ALMOST! So when she talks about this being the last chance for a big break, it all stems from the age rules that shows like AI enforce and the only reason that she was able to try out was because that was the year that they raised the age limit. That dear friends was the year Taylor Hicks won. Taylor Hicks, y'all!

So VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Funny story, yesterday I scared the UPS guy.

How?

Let's just say I was looking a little rough yesterday. I couldn't find my new glasses, so I was wearing my old black ones that are bent in the middle and make my nose look three times bigger than normal. I had yesterdays make up smudged under the eye since I had yet to wash my face,at 2 in the afternoon, yes a perk to working at home. My hair, which wasn't combed was on the top of my head, in a bun all disheveled. When I heard the knock on the door and the guy calls out "UPS", I hadn't yet looked in the mirror to know what I looked like. I knew it wasn't the usual UPS girl because she would have knocked and yelled out "See you later!" while leaving the box at the front door. It's a system that works well for us (she being in a hurry to meet her daily quota and I am usually on the phone with a client) and I don't mind it in the least.

But yesterday, when I heard the knock, I threw all caution to the wind and opened the door...without looking at my appearance. UPS guy was fiddling with his electronic tracker when I opened the door.

UPS guy looks up and says, "Whoa!" and steps back a bit, like he is afraid. I kid you not-cross my heart and all the other words that go with it-I am not lying. He quickly handed me the package without meeting me in the eye and ran for his truck. Again-no lie.

Afterwards, I looked in the mirror and scared myself. And since Jeff is working days this week, I made a point to find out when he was getting off work so I could dress in time for him to get home. I explained to Jeff that the reason I need to know was because the love of his life just scared Mr. UPS and didn't want to do the same to him.

He thanked me later since he too has seen the rough side of me!

Another Friend on TV

I received an email from one of my old friends at Jeff and my old church. One of the girls from the praise team is on Nashville Star and well...she ROCKS.

So everyone tune in and keep an eye on Melissa Lawson. All the votes count so please help a friend out.

God Met Us in the Hosptial Room Today

Please look at the picture below to see your new sister in Christ.

I will tell you the full story soon but my head is swimming with the events of today.

God showed up in a mighty way and for that we are thankful!

Thank you all for your prayers!

What a joy it is for Jeff and I to move ahead with the diagnosis knowing that Maudie believes that through Jesus she is saved and has forgiveness for her sins. No matter what happens now we can rest in the assurance that Maudie has been saved!

Praise you Lord!

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!

5 Shows I Watch on Cable TV

So I was going to be real cute and put up this picture of a vintage television screen to illustrate my five favorite television shows.. I googled one, clicked on the link and OH MY EYES! Pure yuckiness, I don't want to type the real world because all the freaks and geeks will come out of the woodwork when they google that word later tonight. I mean I googled "VINTAGE TELEVISION" and what I got was very, very disgusting. Blach!!! So no cute picture, I am too afraid to try again.

Today a faithful lurker---I mean reader is going over to the darkside and getting cable today. I thought it would be fun to list my 5 favorite television shows on cable so that she can start off right. Feel free to share your favorite too!

Ace of Cakes- Baker Duff does some of the most creative cakes. They are very fun to watch.
(A-this is the show that we say you look and act like the receptionist)

Dress My Nest I love decorating shows but I like Thom's approach to finding the client's individual style. If you haven't ever watched it, you should. It is very inspiring to the home decorator in me.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight- the kids are cute and the parents are very real with each other. And for your viewing pleasure I will post my all time favorite clip of little Aaden, the funny part is about 3 minutes in.




Divine Design - I know another design show but it truly is one of my favorties

Project Runway, Clean House, Flipping Out,

Okay so I couldn't limit it to 5...sue me!

Now please tell me what are you favorite shows on cable television?

The Summer Bible Study

First, thank you for praying for Maudie's health. No news yet but I will let you know as soon as we hear. I am so thankful for the peace that I feel right now in regards to Maudie. A few of Jeff's family members have relayed conversations that have taken place with her to let us know that she is on the right track. Praise God for that little insight into her heart.

Moving on for a minute...

When I was 22 years old, I did my first ever Beth Moore study. I did this by myself as a way to help me get back on track with God. At this point in my life, I was as far away from God as I have ever been. Yet, you wouldn't know it because I put on a good face when I was around many of you. But trust me, I was living far away from God. God used this Bible study to pursue me like He has never done before. Although by week 6, I quit doing the study because my guilt got the best of me. During this time in my life, God brought two families that loved me, supported me and lovingly encouraged me let go of people and situations that were keeping me from fully loving God. I praise the Lord for bringing these people alongside me in my time of need. They truly helped me grow into the woman that I am today




Now eight years later, I am redoing the new and improved study with my summer bible study friends. My life today is completely different than it was eight years ago-to God be the glory! Yesterday, the Bible Study Chicks started this study and later that day I had lunch with a 22 year old friend whose life is a mirror image of mine back in the day. I pray that my words were able to touch her somehow even though I know that she may have to walk this journey, just like I did, in order for God to truly transform her.

All I have to say is I am thankful that God has brought me out of that place. I am thankful for God healing me from the inside out. I am thankful that even when I gave up on myself, thinking I had messed up too much to ever be forgiven that God proved to me that my thinking was totally wrong. God was faithful and for that I am thankful!

Prayer Request Needed!

I have been telling Jeff lately that something big is coming, that we need to get prepared for what is about to come next. I don't know if I have mentioned this in blog land, I know I have told a few of you in person and it is all running together right now. Please forgive my forgetfulness if I sound redundant. I have not been sleeping most nights, around 3-5 a.m I am fully awake with a strong sense of urgency to pray for my family. The top of that list is Jeff's grandmother Maudie.

Two weeks ago, Maudie moved in next door as I am sure I have told you all before. Well not really next door but close enough for us to be at her front door in less than 5 minutes. The past week she has been in the hospital with pneumonia. She has been getting better but hasn't really been able to shake it. This is scary for someone in her eighties.

I received a call today from my sister in law telling me that we needed to pray, that she was calling all prayer warriors to unite. I braced myself because that is what I do when I feel like God is calling me to pray in a mighty way.

Maudie has spots on her lungs that the doctors are concerned could be cancer. We will know more tomorrow but let's pray that the spots are not cancerous. But with or without cancer, let's pray that Maudie be open to hearing the gospel.

So please join me in praying for open heart and cleared lungs.

God will be glorified no matter what through this!

Pray for strength for Jeff and I too and that when God opens a door for us to minister to her that we jump through that door strong and courageously!

Oh and one quick thing, it is not coincidence that one of my morning prayer sessions were spent writing down and memorizing scripture that deal directly with salvation. I spent most of that time highlighting and marking these scriptures. Because you know that verse, that says to be ready in and out of season to present the gospel well I couldn't help but feel like that was a good time to get my bible ready. To me, nothing else matters at this point.

Writer's Block

I have started two posts in the last hour and erased both. I am just not feeling it right now.

Some weeks I find I have many words to get out but that does not seem to be the case this week.

Right now I am enjoying the creative lull; spending time reading a few good books and spending quality time with a few good friends while counting down to the weekend, when I can spend time with J.

I will be back soon when my words start clogging up my brain because I haven't used all of them this week.

Don't cry for me Argentina!

Phew! We Made It!

(Click on the collage to enlarge picture)

It's June 1st which means Birthday month is officially over.



We celebrated a total of 7 birthdays in two weeks. Do you realize how insane that is?



And then you add in an all day Scrapbook event, Mother's Day, CDR 50th reunion, a talent show and a few baby showers it gets to be a bit hectic around here.



Or should I say we got a bit cranky around here?



Let me just be honest for a second....neither Jeff nor myself deal well with non-stop schedules.



Today I had another engagement (Sorry Couz!) and as we were leaving church Jeff says, "You know what would make my day?"



"What's that?"



"A day with just my wife for us to do what we want, when we want without rushing around."



Let me ask you, would you pass up a request like that?



Let me also mention that this is the first Sunday in many, many months without church small group. At this point, we were ready for sometime to ourselves, to do what we love to do.



Anyone want to make a guess as to what we did today? Here is a hint: it is a summer tradition.



Sunday Matinee Movie Y'all.



Today's movie: Iron Man



If you haven't seen it-you must go. We really, really loved it.



The best $8 we ever spent!