I saw this link over at another blog (Boomama) and it made me laugh so hard...NOT that B has ever or would ever act this way! :)
Friday, January 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Perspective
I am not even sure if this post is going to make any sense at all. The last 2 weeks have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride, filled with lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, abrupt starts and stops.
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that we sold our home and have been looking for a new house and thought we may have found one...well, it didn't work out. It's a good thing though. We've been praying for God's protection throughout this whole process so, we believe that is exactly what happened. Anyway, on top of looking for a new house there has been this other "situation" going on with B's job. One that we have been praying about for a long, long time. Talk about a chance for fear, stress and worry to creep in. There have been days when it looked as if everything was going to work out perfectly. We found a house, the deal comes through with B's job on the same day, then BAM...2 inspections later and both the house and the job deal are off. Then, right when we think the job "situation" is done and over, ANOTHER opportunity opens up on the same day. Anyone feeling me here? I mean the ups and downs are killing me!
But the truth is, they aren't really. I started Beth Moore's "Psalm of Ascent" study right in the middle of all of this and it has been so timely. On day two of week two, we focused on Psalm 123. Verse one says, "I lift my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven." Beth begins to point out that "an entire chain reaction begins with our eyes and ultimately affects our hearts, souls, and minds. Where we look-where we genuinely fasten our gaze-amid continual life challenges has a tremendous impact on how we feel". Wow. That is exactly what I needed to read. If I start to focus on our situation right now, I can get really uneasy, worried, afraid, upset, angry, etc. But when I shift my focus onto Christ, and keep my gaze fixed on Him, I am seeing Him working in very specific ways... answering prayers that we have prayed for years, working in my heart on areas that I have struggle with for just as long. And when I see that, I feel His peace. Even in the midst of this roller coaster ride, I feel His steady hand guiding us through each twist and turn and I KNOW that He is working it all out for His purposes and His glory.
Who knows what the next year, or even the next day, holds for our family...but I know who holds us, and He is good.
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that we sold our home and have been looking for a new house and thought we may have found one...well, it didn't work out. It's a good thing though. We've been praying for God's protection throughout this whole process so, we believe that is exactly what happened. Anyway, on top of looking for a new house there has been this other "situation" going on with B's job. One that we have been praying about for a long, long time. Talk about a chance for fear, stress and worry to creep in. There have been days when it looked as if everything was going to work out perfectly. We found a house, the deal comes through with B's job on the same day, then BAM...2 inspections later and both the house and the job deal are off. Then, right when we think the job "situation" is done and over, ANOTHER opportunity opens up on the same day. Anyone feeling me here? I mean the ups and downs are killing me!
But the truth is, they aren't really. I started Beth Moore's "Psalm of Ascent" study right in the middle of all of this and it has been so timely. On day two of week two, we focused on Psalm 123. Verse one says, "I lift my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven." Beth begins to point out that "an entire chain reaction begins with our eyes and ultimately affects our hearts, souls, and minds. Where we look-where we genuinely fasten our gaze-amid continual life challenges has a tremendous impact on how we feel". Wow. That is exactly what I needed to read. If I start to focus on our situation right now, I can get really uneasy, worried, afraid, upset, angry, etc. But when I shift my focus onto Christ, and keep my gaze fixed on Him, I am seeing Him working in very specific ways... answering prayers that we have prayed for years, working in my heart on areas that I have struggle with for just as long. And when I see that, I feel His peace. Even in the midst of this roller coaster ride, I feel His steady hand guiding us through each twist and turn and I KNOW that He is working it all out for His purposes and His glory.
Who knows what the next year, or even the next day, holds for our family...but I know who holds us, and He is good.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A Book Me Me
Terri tagged me with this Book Me Me...Allow me to preface this "Me Me" with a confession: I have never been a big reader. Growing up, I much preferred listening to music in my down-time, but as an adult, I have come to love reading and have been blessed by many great books. With that said, here are my answers...:)
1. Two books that changed your life: "Believing God", Beth Moore, "Boundaries" Cloud/Townsend
2. One book that you have read more than once: "Live a Praying Life" Jennifer Kennedy Dean
3. One book you would want on a desert island: "How to Survive on a Desert Island, For Dummies." I'm borrowing Terri's answer! :)
4. Two books that made you laugh: "Junie B. Jones" any of them, my kids love them, and I think they're funny too! Does that count as two??
5. One book that made you cry: "I"ll Love You Forever"
6. One book you wish you'd written: "Grace Based Parenting" Tim Kimmel, great parenting book, in my opinion.
7. One book you wish had never been written: I don't know??!!
8. Two books you are currently reading: "Grace Walk" Steve McVey, "Psalms of Ascent" Bible Study, by Beth Moore
9. One book you've been meaning to read or finish: "A Different Kind of Me" Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent
10. One book that made you think: "Sacred Marriage" Gary Thomas
11. People I'm tagging with this......Shannon and Julie, (Julie, I know you have a newborn, but I also know how much you read and would love to read your answers, but no pressure!)
Please play along! Let me know if you do!:)
1. Two books that changed your life: "Believing God", Beth Moore, "Boundaries" Cloud/Townsend
2. One book that you have read more than once: "Live a Praying Life" Jennifer Kennedy Dean
3. One book you would want on a desert island: "How to Survive on a Desert Island, For Dummies." I'm borrowing Terri's answer! :)
4. Two books that made you laugh: "Junie B. Jones" any of them, my kids love them, and I think they're funny too! Does that count as two??
5. One book that made you cry: "I"ll Love You Forever"
6. One book you wish you'd written: "Grace Based Parenting" Tim Kimmel, great parenting book, in my opinion.
7. One book you wish had never been written: I don't know??!!
8. Two books you are currently reading: "Grace Walk" Steve McVey, "Psalms of Ascent" Bible Study, by Beth Moore
9. One book you've been meaning to read or finish: "A Different Kind of Me" Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent
10. One book that made you think: "Sacred Marriage" Gary Thomas
11. People I'm tagging with this......Shannon and Julie, (Julie, I know you have a newborn, but I also know how much you read and would love to read your answers, but no pressure!)
Please play along! Let me know if you do!:)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Weekend O' Fun
We started off last weekend with a bang! Friday night, after a short meltdown, (mine - thanks Dad for listening!) brought on by the ever-changing circumstances of our lives right now, we had a great family night. I made some homemade chili, we watched Shrek 2, and then played "High School Musical Sing Slong" game on the Wii, which, by the way, I totally won! ha! (Sad, but true, I know every word to every song in BOTH movies!) After that, we put the kids to bed, then B and I had a great talk about the "ever-changing circumstances of our lives" and I felt much better.
Saturday didn't start off so well...Jake had a basketball game Saturday morning and B had to go on into work which left me to wrangle the children and get us all there in time. I've been doing this a while so you'd think I'd have this down to a fine art, but not this day. Jake started us off by freaking out on me, because I had the nerve to ask him to put on a sweatshirt before he went outside in the 30 degree weather to shoot hoops. He was in his uniform...shorts and jersey, and to him that was enough. But, the mom in me just couldn't stand it, it was, after all, FREEZING outside, so I started the fight...ding, ding... He then proceeded to stomp off to his room, huffing and puffing the whole way, to sit on his bed for some quality time alone. Then it was Trent's turn. I asked Trent to head on to his room (which he shares with Jake) and clean up, to which his response was "I don't waaaannnnnntttttt toooooooo!!!!!" Followed by stomping, huffing, puffing...wonder where he learned that??!! :) This entire time, I forgot to mention, Ellie is following me around whining and crying because I won't hold her or let her play with the markers, knives, guns, or whatever else she can get her busy little hands on...(just kidding about the guns and knives, mom.) So you can imagine how that lovely sound in the background added to the fun of the morning. Anyway, I began to try and get myself ready when I heard the boys start to rumble. The yelling, the griping, the whining, it was too much. I put down my make-up, (big mistake) headed to the "ring", (the boys room) and threw down the gauntlet. I kept my cool, but made it clear that if they didn't shape up and get their acts together, they could forget the basketball game and the birthday party we were invited to that afternoon, then left the room. I went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready, and my make-up was gone. I peeked around the corner into the Den to find miss Ellie Kate on the rug with my make-up all over the place, including her face. I literally said out loud to the Lord, "I am a new creation, I will not lose it, I will not lose it...help me Jesus!" As I was cleaning her off, I knew I should have taken a picture to post, but I was just too darn tired. We did finally get to the game, where Ellie lasted all of 5 minutes in her stroller, which means I caved and let her out and watched Jake play with one eye, and watched Ellie with the other! :)
The rest of the weekend was a little less eventful. We put the kids down early Saturday night, went to church Sunday, and then hung out and watched the Cowboys lose... :( I Woke up this morning and kicked off our week with a trip to Wal-Mart. Woo, Woo! Actually, it wasn't half-bad! So that was our big weekend o' fun! Thank God it's over! Ha!
Happy Monday everyone!
Saturday didn't start off so well...Jake had a basketball game Saturday morning and B had to go on into work which left me to wrangle the children and get us all there in time. I've been doing this a while so you'd think I'd have this down to a fine art, but not this day. Jake started us off by freaking out on me, because I had the nerve to ask him to put on a sweatshirt before he went outside in the 30 degree weather to shoot hoops. He was in his uniform...shorts and jersey, and to him that was enough. But, the mom in me just couldn't stand it, it was, after all, FREEZING outside, so I started the fight...ding, ding... He then proceeded to stomp off to his room, huffing and puffing the whole way, to sit on his bed for some quality time alone. Then it was Trent's turn. I asked Trent to head on to his room (which he shares with Jake) and clean up, to which his response was "I don't waaaannnnnntttttt toooooooo!!!!!" Followed by stomping, huffing, puffing...wonder where he learned that??!! :) This entire time, I forgot to mention, Ellie is following me around whining and crying because I won't hold her or let her play with the markers, knives, guns, or whatever else she can get her busy little hands on...(just kidding about the guns and knives, mom.) So you can imagine how that lovely sound in the background added to the fun of the morning. Anyway, I began to try and get myself ready when I heard the boys start to rumble. The yelling, the griping, the whining, it was too much. I put down my make-up, (big mistake) headed to the "ring", (the boys room) and threw down the gauntlet. I kept my cool, but made it clear that if they didn't shape up and get their acts together, they could forget the basketball game and the birthday party we were invited to that afternoon, then left the room. I went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready, and my make-up was gone. I peeked around the corner into the Den to find miss Ellie Kate on the rug with my make-up all over the place, including her face. I literally said out loud to the Lord, "I am a new creation, I will not lose it, I will not lose it...help me Jesus!" As I was cleaning her off, I knew I should have taken a picture to post, but I was just too darn tired. We did finally get to the game, where Ellie lasted all of 5 minutes in her stroller, which means I caved and let her out and watched Jake play with one eye, and watched Ellie with the other! :)
The rest of the weekend was a little less eventful. We put the kids down early Saturday night, went to church Sunday, and then hung out and watched the Cowboys lose... :( I Woke up this morning and kicked off our week with a trip to Wal-Mart. Woo, Woo! Actually, it wasn't half-bad! So that was our big weekend o' fun! Thank God it's over! Ha!
Happy Monday everyone!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Happy New Year
...3 days late! I can hardly believe that Christmas AND New Year's have come and gone! One thing's for sure, we have done our share of celebrating! Christmas was great! Santa hit the jackpot and scored us a Wii, and "wii" love it! And by the way, how bad of shape do you have to be in to actually be sore after playing a few rounds of pretend tennis, golf and bowling!?? I guess now would be a good time to transition into my New Year's goal which is to lose the extra pounds I packed on while celebrating the birth of our Lord! I have had very good intentions of running each day, that is until I wake up and realize that the temperature is in the low to mid 30's, and to us in Texas, that's equivalent to an Arctic blast! However, I do realize that I am going to have to brave the cold if I plan to stick with my goal! I'll keep you posted!
The other big news of the holidays is that we sold our house! LONG story short, we had some friends who had been looking in our neighborhood contact us and ask if we'd been interested in selling it. B and I had been praying about whether or not to try and sell and find a house with a little more room, but weren't planning on doing so until the Spring. Needless to say, it seems God had another plan! It's exciting, but can be frustrating because we live in an older neighborhood and want to stay in this area for the schools and the houses either require a ton of work, or they are WAY out of our range! So we've been looking and I THINK we may have found a house. We'll see if it works out!
Soo, things here, to be quite honest, have been anything BUT quiet and restful. I hate that. The boys are heading back to school on Monday and I feel as if they just got out! I guess that is just life with five! One adventure after the next! I'm just hoping the Lord has plans for a vacation for hubby and I squeezed in somewhere in between all of these adventures!
The other big news of the holidays is that we sold our house! LONG story short, we had some friends who had been looking in our neighborhood contact us and ask if we'd been interested in selling it. B and I had been praying about whether or not to try and sell and find a house with a little more room, but weren't planning on doing so until the Spring. Needless to say, it seems God had another plan! It's exciting, but can be frustrating because we live in an older neighborhood and want to stay in this area for the schools and the houses either require a ton of work, or they are WAY out of our range! So we've been looking and I THINK we may have found a house. We'll see if it works out!
Soo, things here, to be quite honest, have been anything BUT quiet and restful. I hate that. The boys are heading back to school on Monday and I feel as if they just got out! I guess that is just life with five! One adventure after the next! I'm just hoping the Lord has plans for a vacation for hubby and I squeezed in somewhere in between all of these adventures!
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