Well, it's officiallly the day after Christmas now, but I can't sleep, so I decided to "blog". :) I am truly hoping to make a change this next year with my blogging habits and make this a much bigger part of my life. There are so many things that I think about that I would like to share, and also archive for my family, but I will share more of that in another post.
I have been pondering the idea of how New Years Day comes so soon after Christmas Day. For years I have always thought it was kind of aggravating that the 2 holidays are so close together because it just seems to make for a very busy time. However, today as I was thinking about goals for the New Year, I was also thinking about the real reason for Christmas. For those of us who believe in Christ, we acknowledge that God was the first gift-giver in that He gave us His son to become the sacrifice for our sins. What a humbling and sobering thought when we consider the gifts we give. As I started reflecting on this amazing gift we've been given, I then started seeing how amazing it is that New Year's Day comes so soon after. As we ponder the amazing gift we've been given, which when we accept it, wipes our sin slate completely clean, only then can we really appreciate the fullness of what a New Year brings to us as well - a similarly clean slate to begin life anew again so to speak. The two holidays really do fit well together - A gift that brings new life.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve Ramblings
Well, it is obvious that I didn't reach the goal I had for my blog this year. :( But I do have some ideas about next year and I am hoping to find someone who is able to help me get a really good blog going. I do want to recap my year though. I didn't get around to sending out Christmas cards this year or making a holiday newsletter, so this will be my year-end wrap up.
January 2010 - Shelby & Jalen moved home only 3 months after her wedding. I decided to enroll in college after almost 20 years from my last class.
February 2010 - Tom & I celebrated our 22nd anniversary and Tom turned 41!
March 2010 - Kayla turned 21 and Lindsay turned 16!!!! Shelby passed her GED!!!!!
April 2010 - Shelby turned 19!!!! Lindsay hired at Sonic AND KFC/Taco Bell!
May 2010 - I survived my first semester back to college and Kayla graduated from college!!!!!! Tom left MO-DOT for Ozark Mountain Tour Trucking (assigned to the Justin Beiber tour!) Shelby's divorce was finalized!
June 2010 - Kayla started her new job at St. John's as a graduate nurse. She was hired on full-time (an unusual accomplishment for a grad nurse to get full-time to start off). I took a summer course in college (college algebra). Shelby started a new job at the nursing home and CNA classes.
July 2010 - Me, Shelby, & Jalen went to Kansas City to see Tom on tour. Lindsay, Britian, & I went to Memphis to meet online friends and to see Tom on tour there. I turned 41!!!!! Kayla took and passed her state board test- is an official RN!!!!!
August 2010 - I started another semester of college. Enrolled in 15 hours. Started a new job that was full-time. Lindsay went full time at Sonic and quit her KFC/Taco Bell job.
September 2010 - Tom came home for 4 days!!!!!!
October 2010 - Tom came home for 3 weeks. Got another job offer and turned in his notice at Ozark. Will be home November 5!!!
November 2010- Tom came home to start new job! Lindsay had a wreck that totaled her car, but God was with her and she and her friend and the other driver only had minor injuries. Thanksgiving with all the family!!!
December 2010 - Shelby found an apartment for her and Jalen to rent starting the first of 2011. Kayla came home day before Christmas Eve to have Christmas with us as she worked Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. First Christmas without all of us together on the actual day...:( We filed for bankruptcy. Maybe not the best thing to remember, but the economy hit us hard over the past 2 years and Tom has had multiple jobs, all of which paid much less than his previous job of 18 years, and we never could recuperate fully. We are grateful for the fresh start and hope that 2011 will bring many good things to our lives and to the lives of our children and our friends!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!
January 2010 - Shelby & Jalen moved home only 3 months after her wedding. I decided to enroll in college after almost 20 years from my last class.
February 2010 - Tom & I celebrated our 22nd anniversary and Tom turned 41!
March 2010 - Kayla turned 21 and Lindsay turned 16!!!! Shelby passed her GED!!!!!
April 2010 - Shelby turned 19!!!! Lindsay hired at Sonic AND KFC/Taco Bell!
May 2010 - I survived my first semester back to college and Kayla graduated from college!!!!!! Tom left MO-DOT for Ozark Mountain Tour Trucking (assigned to the Justin Beiber tour!) Shelby's divorce was finalized!
June 2010 - Kayla started her new job at St. John's as a graduate nurse. She was hired on full-time (an unusual accomplishment for a grad nurse to get full-time to start off). I took a summer course in college (college algebra). Shelby started a new job at the nursing home and CNA classes.
July 2010 - Me, Shelby, & Jalen went to Kansas City to see Tom on tour. Lindsay, Britian, & I went to Memphis to meet online friends and to see Tom on tour there. I turned 41!!!!! Kayla took and passed her state board test- is an official RN!!!!!
August 2010 - I started another semester of college. Enrolled in 15 hours. Started a new job that was full-time. Lindsay went full time at Sonic and quit her KFC/Taco Bell job.
September 2010 - Tom came home for 4 days!!!!!!
October 2010 - Tom came home for 3 weeks. Got another job offer and turned in his notice at Ozark. Will be home November 5!!!
November 2010- Tom came home to start new job! Lindsay had a wreck that totaled her car, but God was with her and she and her friend and the other driver only had minor injuries. Thanksgiving with all the family!!!
December 2010 - Shelby found an apartment for her and Jalen to rent starting the first of 2011. Kayla came home day before Christmas Eve to have Christmas with us as she worked Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. First Christmas without all of us together on the actual day...:( We filed for bankruptcy. Maybe not the best thing to remember, but the economy hit us hard over the past 2 years and Tom has had multiple jobs, all of which paid much less than his previous job of 18 years, and we never could recuperate fully. We are grateful for the fresh start and hope that 2011 will bring many good things to our lives and to the lives of our children and our friends!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Challenge
A friend shared with me that November is the national blogging month and the challenge is to write on your blog every day of the month. Well, I already messed it up since I didn't blog yesterday, but I am going to try to still blog every day just to see how many days I actually succeed. :)
So many times I feel like the Lord puts things on my mind that I want to write about, but then when I sit down to actually type it out, it leaves me or I can't seem to write it the way I "hear" it in my head.
Anyway, I do have a couple of "topics" in mind, but I am going to save them for another day so I will be sure to have something to write about...LOL
So,stay tuned...:)
So many times I feel like the Lord puts things on my mind that I want to write about, but then when I sit down to actually type it out, it leaves me or I can't seem to write it the way I "hear" it in my head.
Anyway, I do have a couple of "topics" in mind, but I am going to save them for another day so I will be sure to have something to write about...LOL
So,stay tuned...:)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Not Sure Why I Bother
Well, I'm not really sure why I even bother to keep a blog. I certainly do not have the ability to keep it up or even come up with anything interesting to say. Which I guess is why I also don't have many "followers" either - lol.
I feel constantly weary. Part of it is physical as I am not in great shape, but I believe most of it is spiritual. I am just worn out. I am tired of the consequences of my own personal disobedience, I am tired of suffering second hand from the consequences of disobedience my family members are enduring, I am tired of Satan dogging my heels every where I turn. I am tired of the church being so worldly that you can't tell where the world ends and the church begins. I am tired of the ineffectiveness of the church because of their love affair with the world. I am tired of longing for something different, yet never being able to find it. I am weary of feeling like a failure every day of my life.
While I do try to encourage myself by reading Scriptures and reminding myself that the "joy of the Lord is my strength", I can't help but tell you that more often than not what my heart is sliently (and sometimes not so silently) crying out is this: "Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!" I believe that I am not the only one who is worn down and weary of this world we are living in. Even our earth, I believe, is crying out to God for His return.
Until then, I can only keep on putting one foot in front of the other and hoping that I can overcome the wearyness good enough that I can be a witness to others. For it is a sure thing, one day (and maybe very soon) our Lord is returning and I want to be found ready and I want all my family to be ready too, as well as my friends.
Lord, give me your strength and your energy to rise above the wearyness and to soar like an Eagle until your return!
I feel constantly weary. Part of it is physical as I am not in great shape, but I believe most of it is spiritual. I am just worn out. I am tired of the consequences of my own personal disobedience, I am tired of suffering second hand from the consequences of disobedience my family members are enduring, I am tired of Satan dogging my heels every where I turn. I am tired of the church being so worldly that you can't tell where the world ends and the church begins. I am tired of the ineffectiveness of the church because of their love affair with the world. I am tired of longing for something different, yet never being able to find it. I am weary of feeling like a failure every day of my life.
While I do try to encourage myself by reading Scriptures and reminding myself that the "joy of the Lord is my strength", I can't help but tell you that more often than not what my heart is sliently (and sometimes not so silently) crying out is this: "Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!" I believe that I am not the only one who is worn down and weary of this world we are living in. Even our earth, I believe, is crying out to God for His return.
Until then, I can only keep on putting one foot in front of the other and hoping that I can overcome the wearyness good enough that I can be a witness to others. For it is a sure thing, one day (and maybe very soon) our Lord is returning and I want to be found ready and I want all my family to be ready too, as well as my friends.
Lord, give me your strength and your energy to rise above the wearyness and to soar like an Eagle until your return!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A Week Gone Already?!?!?!
Well, despite my goal of blogging more, I have managed to let a week get by me. Life is never dull around my home and there is always something to get in the way of my best intentions. Right now the heat we are experiencing is unreal and the best place to be is under an A/C vent. I am very thankful for our central air in our home and for the unit in my office, though I am not a fan of the electric bill that comes with it. LOL I just keep reminding myself that in January I will be wishing for this heat. :)
The past few days I have been trying to work on an area in my life that I know God wants me to work on. It is found in the book of James.
The past few days I have been trying to work on an area in my life that I know God wants me to work on. It is found in the book of James.
James 1:19-25 (Contemporary English Version)Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But I find myself really struggling with all of it. I am not very slow at getting angry or speaking and I don't even think I am that great of a listener. But because this is on my mind so much I know it is an area God is really asking me to improve on. How can I expect my children to be obedient or submissive to authority if I am not setting the example? I am confident though that if I seek with my whole heart to apply these Scriptures to my life that God will be faithful and give me the grace (power and will to do) to be victorious in this area.
Hearing and Obeying
19My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. 20If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things that God wants done. 21You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to save you.
22Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. 23If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror 24and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. 25But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Life At Warp Speed
Wow! These last 2 days have been crazy! Our oldest daughter who just recently graduated from nursing school and landed a full-time job purchased her first "new to her" car yesterday. It is a beautiful new car and we are so happy that she finally has a "nice" car. She has literally worn out her other car, but PTL it got her through college!
She actually lives almost 2 hours away from us and due to some miscommunication, I ended up driving her younger sister up there thinking that the plan was for us to spend the night there. That didn't work out so we drove back home after a very hurried shopping time and then discovered that the title to the "old" car was needed by our daughter so back we went early this morning. I did get to take advantage of the 20% off sale that Mardel's was having on homeschool materials before we had to hurry back home though.
Before leaving this morning, I took a minute to pull out a devotional book and read what was for today's date. The title was "One Day at a Time". Felt appropriate to me. The scripture was from 2 Samuel 22:3 and it says: "My God, my Rock, in Him will I take refuge; my Shield and the Horn of my salvation; my Stronghold and my Refuge, my Savior--You save me from violence.
Life feels like it comes at me most of the time at warp speed, but I love how God never fails to show me that no matter what comes my way or how fast it comes at me, He is the one who shields me and protects me and I can always find a refuge in Him.
She actually lives almost 2 hours away from us and due to some miscommunication, I ended up driving her younger sister up there thinking that the plan was for us to spend the night there. That didn't work out so we drove back home after a very hurried shopping time and then discovered that the title to the "old" car was needed by our daughter so back we went early this morning. I did get to take advantage of the 20% off sale that Mardel's was having on homeschool materials before we had to hurry back home though.
Before leaving this morning, I took a minute to pull out a devotional book and read what was for today's date. The title was "One Day at a Time". Felt appropriate to me. The scripture was from 2 Samuel 22:3 and it says: "My God, my Rock, in Him will I take refuge; my Shield and the Horn of my salvation; my Stronghold and my Refuge, my Savior--You save me from violence.
Life feels like it comes at me most of the time at warp speed, but I love how God never fails to show me that no matter what comes my way or how fast it comes at me, He is the one who shields me and protects me and I can always find a refuge in Him.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
New Directions (And NO this is not a post about the show Glee!)
For so long now I have dreamed of being a "blogger". I have made several attempts at it but for a variety of reasons I just haven't ever achieved it. I do think about it a lot and many times ideas will flood my mind that I think would make good blog entries, but again, I just never get it to the actual blog.
Then I thought if I had a fabulously designed blog like so many others that I see, maybe that would inspire me to be the "blogger" of my dreams. But truthfully, I know that even if that were to happen, it would not automatically make me a blogger.
Maybe I am being simplistic, but I have decided that blogging for me is going to have to be done like eating an elephant - one bite at a time. Too often, in almost every area of my life, I can dream big and I can even attain all the knowledge to make the dream reality, but in the end if I don't actually "do" it, all I am left with is unrealized dreams.
So, my new goal is to just simply blog about whatever is on my mind, however short it may be, daily. Perhaps as time goes on and I maintain faithfulness in sharing daily, one day I may wake up and realize I have reached my goal of being a real "blogger".
Then I thought if I had a fabulously designed blog like so many others that I see, maybe that would inspire me to be the "blogger" of my dreams. But truthfully, I know that even if that were to happen, it would not automatically make me a blogger.
Maybe I am being simplistic, but I have decided that blogging for me is going to have to be done like eating an elephant - one bite at a time. Too often, in almost every area of my life, I can dream big and I can even attain all the knowledge to make the dream reality, but in the end if I don't actually "do" it, all I am left with is unrealized dreams.
So, my new goal is to just simply blog about whatever is on my mind, however short it may be, daily. Perhaps as time goes on and I maintain faithfulness in sharing daily, one day I may wake up and realize I have reached my goal of being a real "blogger".
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