Song In My Head: Blue Skies by Point of Grace

I love this song and maybe the reason it constantly plays in my head is due to the beautiful fall days we are having this week.

I checked the forecast yesterday to see what the day would be like, Yahoo Weather said: Abundant Sunshine. I just love that they added that adjective to portray the amount of sunshine we would receive.

Abundance is a good word. A word I very rarely use but I have come to love.

I was in a reflective mood yesterday and decided to look up the word abundance on Bible Gateway. I found many verses with the word abundance, mostly to describe God's blessing others with food or such. But the verse in Psalms 66:12 touched me most.

"Then you put a leader over us. We went through fire and flood,
but you brought us to a place of great abundance."

Why did it touch me? Because they had to go through the fire and the flood in order to reach the place of abundance. I realize that my struggles are nothing compared to what others around me are going through. I know that I have been blessed but every once in a while I have those moments of humanness where I ask, "Why me, Lord?" Over the recent months, I have seen God blessing us abundantly and for that I praise Him. It's like they always say, "Hindsight is 20/20." Well as I look back on the past two years, I can clearly see God and His presence surrounding me. That is one of the reasons why I believe strongly in keeping a prayer journal because it never fails to prove God's presence in my life especially when you document the verses that God brought your way or the different songs playing in your head. All of these prove to me time and time again that God is a present in my life and blessing me abundantly.

Do you want to know the biggest blessing I have received in recent days. I have come to learn that I am happy in the present moment. Even though we are still trying for a baby, even though we have not moved to a house, God is blessing us. Jeff and I laugh more, cuddle more and communicate more than ever these days. And knowing the road that we have travelled to get there is a sign of God's abundantly blessing us.

So no matter where you are today remember that God is there and is blessing you abundantly, it's just how you choose to look at it.

No More Than Four

As many of you know, I am in the furniture business and I love to decorate. One of the ways that I entertain myself these days, is by decorating one of the houses that we are seriously considering. (Sorry can't give details yet. I have been asked by Hubs to keep it under wraps until we know for sure what we are going to do)





Even though I have to remain silent (that's like mission impossible for me) I am still decorating it in my head. And now that Jeff has realized that my decorating is not because I am already sold on the house but more of a way to entertain myself, he has started to play the decorating game with me. And when I say "play with me" I mean he will answer yes and no questions. He actually hasn't sat and looked online with me or anything. I just wanted to clarify so that his masculine image was not threatened in anyway.


Anywho...


I found the style dining room table that I have in mind while flipping through the Pottery Barn Fall Catalog.


I want a table that sits more than four people so when I showed and explained my reasoning to Jeff he says, "I like it but I don't want a big table."



"Why?"


"Because I don't want more than four people at my dining table."

"Seriously, no more than four?!"

"Yep, more than four is a crowd."


Don't worry, he was only kidding. I know because that man can't keep a straight face when he is teasing me. It gives him away every time.

He did say that he preferred it in black though which is perfect for me especially since my furniture company sells a black table that I like better. And the price would be a lot better than what we would be charged at PB, that's for sure.

So don't be surprised if we invite you over to our new house four at a time. :)

Progress Not Perfection

I was reading one of my favorite organizing blogs called Creative Organizing yesterday and her topic really struck a cord with me. Aby is addressing how we limit ourselves to organizing because we want it to be perfect and if it's not perfect we quit. But here she encourages us not think about the perfect way but to have progress in whatever way we choose.

I admit, I enjoy a clean home. I like the feeling that comes from going to bed each night knowing that my pathway to the bathroom is clear for my late night visit. I also enjoy being able to walk into my home after a being away and not have to trip on a bunch of stuff as I enter the door.

Truth be told, even though I enjoy a clean house, I very rarely get it. At least not to the perfect state that I desire. One of the biggest challenges for working inside my home is trying to keep work contained in an orderly fashion. Most days I am doing many things at once so by the end of the day, my desk is a mess and there are catalog pages scattered on the floor and dining table. This is the reason I have asked Jeff to find me a home with a yard big enough that we can put one of those portable barn type things in the back for my office. I really want to be able to walk away from work at the end of my day and walk into my home. And yet, I wouldn't trade working at home for having to commute to an office every day. I realize that I am very blessed with the job I have.

But back to the point of this blog, why do we let the need to be perfect hinder our progress. Growing up my mom used to sing a song to me called Practice Makes Perfect. I quit piano because I didn't want to practice the piano to become perfect, I just wanted it to happen for me. I quit dance because I couldn't get down my left turn pirouette. Looking back, I realize that it was dumb to quit, all I really needed was a little more practice.

Today as I sit looking at my cluttered little desk, the catalog pictures thrown all over the floor, the laundry piled high and the dishwasher waiting to be unloaded and reloaded, I am not going to strive for perfect but strive for progress.

Here is my challenge for you: Don't let the need for perfectionism rob you from making progress. Make a list of areas that you want to work on (home, family or personal) and strive to grow step by step in those areas. The goal is progress. And remember that setting a timer can be the best motivator to getting us started. I still enjoy the challenge of racing to finish a task in a 15 minute time frame.

If you are brave enough, I would love to hear what area you are going to challenge yourself to progress in rather than stiving for perfection.

Good luck!

Fall Into Reading 2008

I must admit that fall is my all time favorite season and love to use the Fall Into Reading challenge as a spring board for all the fun fall festivities.

In the past few weeks, I have challenged myself to read more non-fiction books. I am not usually one who likes to read non-fiction but have found that I am not wanting to read the fluff books either. Jeff suggested that I try a few biographies or autobiographies of people that I admire and I must admit I intrigued with this idea. After spending a few hours at Half Price books I found a few books that I have put on my fall reading list and have even thrown a few fiction in to keep my brain from flashing the word "TILT" across my eyes.

Books to Make Me Look Smart:
1) Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot
2) God's Wisdom for a Woman's Life by Elizabeth George
4) Life lessons from Corrie Ten Boom by Corrie Ten Boom
5) Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far by Amy Grant
6. Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

Books to Keep Me From Becoming A Super Genius (or something close to it):
1) Forever In Blue by Ann Brashares
2) Sunset by Karen Kingsbury
3) The Book Thief by Markus Zasuk
4) Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

To add your own book list, see what others are reading or because you just can't help yourself from being one of those people who loves to click on links when the opputurnity arisies, than go here.

Happy Fall Reading!

Kicking It Old School

Last night I went and walked the halls of RHS since they are about to tear down the old portion to fit the new school. I did not go to my high school reunion because I knew that everyone that I really wanted to see graduated a year before or a year after me. When I heard that they were going to do a MEGA reunion to get all the decades together I decided that I would give it a shot.


Here is a picture of one of the halls, I hated this hall because it was the Math hall. And well, we all know my distaste for math.


But it was in Math class my freshman year where I met my best friend in high school. Her name was also Susan and our math teacher, the coach of the football team, nicknamed us Susan2. (that =susan square for those of you mathmatically challenged). She was my first friend and became one of my dearest friends very fast. I still have notes that we passed back and forth at school that were signed Susan2. Many great memories with this chick! And I bet you didn't realize that Elvis is also a fellow alum and good friend. LOL!



And here is my locker! I loved that locker because it was located in the middle of the school and next to a door that led to the side of the school. This helped me beat the crowds and gave me more time to chat with my friends between classes.
> This is David looking at the class pictures. We dated most of my sophmore year and we have remained friends ever since. Last night I teased him and called him a frog. He didn't understand for a minute until I told him I had to kiss a bunch of frogs until I found my prince. My prince being Jeff of course!
The library! I lived here my junior and senior year becasue I was in AP English and we had to write many research papers. My senior thesis was on the topic of change and I quoted the Cranberries song that says, "All my life is changing every day, every possible way!" I scored very high because I was being creative. That's the day that I realized the key to a high grade is a bunch of creative b.s. with good quality sentence structure. Am I right or am I right?

And the basketball court.... (this ones for you Nat Rat!)
Susan wrote for the school newspaper and they had a few old copies of the paper. We found an article she wrote with her picture from the good ole days. Oh how we laughed when we saw that picture. I even remember her talking about writing the article we found. Strange!


Tonight a group of us are meeting at my place and heading to the game. Jeff is being such a good sport with all of this. I have to give him kudos because he told me today that he was looking forward to meeting my friends and hearing some of my crazy stories from back then. But I know that it doesn't mean the same to me. And as many of you already know (and experienced) I am still as crazy as ever.

Or it could be the fact that the portion I am attending is free. You all should know our family motto by now...say it with me..."If it's free, it's for me!"

Happy Friday!

Don't Worry Be Happy

Here is another song that has been playing in my head these days. I love this song and the video is quite funny and very 80's.

Good words to live by, don't you think?

Here is another good word to live by, one that has carried me through many ups and downs. Worth clinging to if you ask me.

Phillipians 4:6-9

"6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Many Things....

Many things running through my brain, amuse me a minute and let me dump it here.

1) Twilight Series...UNBELIEVABLE! I am almost finished with the 3rd book. Yes, Andrea I read book two in a day. Can you believe it? I could have finished book 3 last night too but I chose to strech it out a bit and sleep. I only have two chapters left and I am having a hard time getting my work done. :)

2) House hunting...this has been fun and not near as stressful as it has been in past years. I can't wait to see where God leads us. I am confident it will be the home I have always wanted since I have prayed for God to move us for 5 years.

3) I have lived in this apartment going on 7 years this month. I will be sad to leave my little neighborhood.

4) The many people who have been our neighbors hold fun, sweet memories (some memories not as sweet) for us. Jeff and I often try to count to see how many times a few of the apartments changed hands since we have been here. People just don't stay put like us. We are exception. We like to stay in one place for a very, very long time.

5) I am going to the RHS mega reunion this weekend. I can't wait to see a few of my friends from back in the day. I love face book because it has helped me reconnect to this group of people who were a blessing to me.

6) God brought a wonderful group of friends to me in high school. After going to FWC until I was in eighth grade, I transferred to Richland. I was scared to death of PUBLIC school. On the first day, I met a girl with my same name. We became great friends but sadly lost contact when we went to college. It will be fun to introduce Jeff to this friend and to catch up with her life.

7) I told my friend that I couldn't wait to get pictures of all of us. She laughed and said that some things never change, you still love pictures. She also said I am still my bubbly self which is a comforting thought. I guess to know that through it all I have still remained the same person (love pictures, love to laugh) makes me have a sense of peace. I like knowing that the good qualities remain in tact while I continue to change those things that don't put me in a good light. You know like my temper or big mouth. LOL

Okay, I really, really have to get to work now.
Talk to you guys soon.
Susan

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This past weekend Jeff and I had a few of our favorite little friends tell us a few things that are worth blogging about.

1) Mackenzie (5 years old) overheard her parents talking about the mail. I was sitting eating pizza with her when she looked to me and said the following.

Mac- "I don't get mail."
Me- "You don't get mail?!?"
Mac- "No, but you can send me mail if you would like."
Me- "Okay, I will see what I can do."
Mac- "But please put something in it because I want more than a letter."
Me- "All righty then."

2) We happened to run into the same family again at Costco on Sunday, the place of choice for Sunday lunch. Mackenzie's dad had gone to get the kids a snack at the snack bar. Jeff and I were teasing Mackenzie and her little brother Brady about what the snack would be. Jeff suggested broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce. To which Mackenzie replies, "They do not sell lettuce Mr. Jeff, I can promise ya!"

3) And then last night we were at our friend's house for small group when Andrew (age 3) came running into the room to tell us some quite exciting news.

Andrew: "Hey guess where I went today?"
Jeff: "Where?!?"
Andrew: "ALBERTSON'S!"


Who knew a grocery store could bring so much enjoyment. I believe that Disney may have a bit of competition for the title the happiest place on earth.

What's Up Buttercup?

I have found myself saying this to Jeff when he walks in the door from his afternoon walk (6 mile walk that is...6 miles....you go dude!) I don't know why I have started saying this but I do and he just gives me that look that makes me know he is thinking "What planet did you come from?"

Sigh.

Do you want to know what's up buttercup in our world?

Busy, busy, busy we are but joyful, joyful, joyful are we too.

Nope, no news to report on project positive plus sign. I promise I will shout it from the roof tops when that day comes. For now, I am encouraged. God is constantly showing me His presence and I am thankful. I believe James 4:8 to be a verse full of promise. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you!"

And friends I have found that when I lean on Him, I am stronger, peaceful and overflowing with joy for our little journey. I realize there is a reason for this season of waiting and I am at peace with this.

J and I have been leaning on the lyrics to the Rich Mullins song where he says, "Step by Step You' ll lead me and I will follow You all of my days." Today we took the next step and all day I have felt God's presence surrounding us. I am choosing joy and I am choosing to walk step by step with God.

I believe He is leading us. I believe He has great plans for us and for this I am grateful.

You know I often pray that our journey be a testament to God and I pray that God use this season of waiting to bring glory to His name. Oh God, you are my God and I will ever praise you.

Have a happy, joyful weekend and I hope everyone in Texas stays dry and safe.

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