Insta-Friday

It's that time of the week again. Insta-Friday.

I'm linking up with...

Wait, it is friday right?

Thses past two weeks have been a bit twisted.

My little guy was so sick last week. It took almost the entire week for him to get past it.

So the first trip out of the house in 6 days was to, where else, Target.

Not to get anything in particular, just to walk around.

We love our Target! Oh... and all the spring/summer outdoor things are out! I so need to get some furniture for our porch. We love to sit out there while our little guy plays.

My little guy also started to write his own name this week. It is a little hard to read but I can see it.  It may be that I'm the mommy and that's why I can read it. I maybe a little biased, maybe.

In our new house we have HUGE windows in our living room.

Like a wall of windows! So I have been struggling trying to find some kind of treatment for them.

I'm loving the wide horizontal stripes for drapes. However everything I found to buy for the size I needed was way out of my price range. So I made my own for $20, for both. Thats right, my husband was so happy I didn't buy the ones I wanted to $120. He loves me.

All the men in my house hate to have their nails clipped. It is a battle to clip my son's.

Sunday we hosted all our youth, volunteers, and their parents to our hosue for an easy fellowship. I wasn't ready. My hosue wasn't ready. But on thing God has taught me this week is that if I wait until I'm fully ready I'll miss out some amazing things. He uses me the best when I'm not ready.

After all was cleaned from the fellowship, my son curled on the couch with a bag as big as he is.

He really is just like his daddy. Too cute.

Adjustment Time

We have moved! My husband is now the new Youth Minister at a church near Houston. So we moved clear across the state of TX. Are we crazy? Possibly, but not for making this move. We followed God, period.

So I decided to join insta-Friday and show some pics of how my son is adjusting. (he loves it here).

Poor baby only wants to take naps on Mommy and Daddy's bed. I give in so easily.

 

First trip to Burger King!

More naps on Mommy's bed.

Our morning alarm, every morning! I don't mind too much. It's an awfully cute alarm.

This is how mommy was adjusting! Yummy....  We were doing really well until this happened...

Ugh... now we are cleaning up.

Happy Birthday...

... to me!

Yes today is my birthday. I'm ok with it, for at least two more years. Then I will have some negotiating conversations with God. I don't know why He would make me turn 30.

I have already received lots of birthday love. SL is planning on taking me shopping later for new camera stuff. I'm excited.

Here are a few of the lovely messages I've heard this weekend.

"After 30, a body has a mind of its own." (Good thing I have 2 more years)

"Last week the candle factory burned down. Everyone just stood around and sang, ‘Happy Birthday’."

"Like many women my age, I am 28 years old" (Wait, I am!"

"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest."

Thanks for all the Birthday Love!

We'll Be Ok

God doesn't give explanations

He gives promises.

I cling to those promises.

Under a Rock

I've been living under a rock for a few months now. I wanted to write this post in hopes that if I can get all of this out I maybe able to come out from under this rock. My rock is very comfy. There is only enough room for me under here.

An old pic, before we painted the Youth room.

If you aren't immediate family than you probably don't know what had been going on with us lately. My husband is a youth minister. He is an amazing youth minister (I may be biased). He has a way of talking to teenagers that can get past their entitlement, their self grandeur, and self esteem (whether high or low). 

We had been at our church for 2 years when the church said they could no longer afford to keep him Full time. So he went look for a second job.

We were doing just fine with our two jobs, but when he became part time at the church we knew he would need another job. God amazingly took care of it and SL found a job at Sears very quickly. God  has truly blessed SL at Sears. He went from seasonal to Full time Head Cashier in one year.

A year a half after the church put SL as part time, they have now decided to hire a Full Time Music Minister/Youth Minister. SL can't sing or play a musical instrument. Guess what that means.  We're Out.

Our initial reactions was hurt, anger, bitterness. As we have had time to absorb this, we realize God was answering our prayers. We have been praying that God would show us if it was time to leave or stay since SL was put on part time.  God was telling us, It's time to go.  We are still a little hurt, it's hard to not be. But we have a lot of sadness for our youth. We have always stayed for them. Even when we have struggled financially, we kept thinking we are doing this for these teenagers who desperately need a positive influence in their lives.

So now we are looking for a new church or whatever God has in store for us. We don't know what is going to happen, how long we can stay in our house before we can no longer afford it. But we put all our trust in God. He has got us through everything put in front of us and we know He will get us through this too. 

So if you think about us anytime, say a prayer for me, SL, and Bubba.  We sure need it. I will continue to pray for you. Email me your prayer requests.

p.s. say a prayer for Julie also. You can hear about her story here  Another Chance Ranch

Signs of Life

This past week has been a crazy one. SL and I got some discouraging news last week. However, we have realized that is God giving us the answers we have been praying for.

We have had almost no rain since November. No rain means very dry grass. Very dry grass means fire food. Friday when massive storms where going through our northwest we had very High winds. Like 60 mph. Now it gets windy in these parts around spring, but nothing like this. So we had many fires in our surrounds because of this. Some were large fires, some were small, some are still burning 5 days later and destroyed dozens of homes and thousands of miles of land.

When you don't have rain for several months it can get warm. Something about the ground no absorbing heat, or the opposite. I don't know, the meteorologist explained it better. So all that to say, we have been very warm lately. No, not warm, HOT! Like 103 degrees! And it's not even Easter yet.

These are all pics of my mom's flowers at her house. I thought with the crazy heat, fires, and no rain it was nice to see some cool purple colored flowers.

I think I finally have the smell of smoke out of my house. Or my nose has just grown immune to it.

Now I'm dealing with a cough I assume is from all ths smoke and dust in the air.

Please say a prayer for all the people who have lost their homes, their land, their pets, their treasured things. It is a tough beginning for them.

Stylish Blogger Award

Today I would like to thank Debra over at Writing with Debra for the Stylish Blogger Award. How sweet and thoughtful of you Debra. This should sure help me get out of my ugly fog. Be sure to head over there and say "hi" to Debra, while your there you can see who else she gave the award to.

As always there has to be rules, so here they are:
1.Thank and link back to the award giver.

2. State seven things about myself.

3. Pass on the award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.
    (That one might be hard for me. 15 is a lot.)

Oh, the fun part seven things about myself.
1. I'm a mommy to a 2 year old, "Bubba"
2. I have been married for 7 years this May.
3. I am a part time Pre-School teacher.
4. I hate washing dishes.
5. I love to bake.
6. I love to listen to music, almost any kind.
7. I liked Twilight. No I'm not 14.

And lastly I'm supposed to share this award with 15 other bloggers. This will be difficult for me. 15? Really? It has to be 15? I may not get all 15, sorry.

Beauty and the Green
Do You Really Want to Know...
Charmingly Chandler
Heartfelt and Homemade
On The Old Path
The Blue Iris
Very Best Housewife
Our Poverty with a View
Another Chance Ranch
The Chase Clan

I didn't get to 15. My brain hurts.

Who... What... Where am I?

I'm tired.  I'm exhausted. I'm spent. I'm done. For now.

I still love to blog. I'm just not going to do it as much.

I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher, a house keeper. I want to keep it that way.

I won't feel bad if I go a week without a post anymore. Other bloggers will no longer make me feel bad for not blogging everyday.

Who cares about going to conventions and trying to get as many followers as possible. It's not me, anymore.

I just got a new camera from my SL and I am going spend time learning it. I will post pics of my test subjects soon.

Find your priorities.

Love to all

BMW

Love Bears All... Do I Gotta?

Valentine's Day is on the way in a few weeks.  Love mean different things to people. There are different levels of love: agape, phileo.... more levels, all the levels I learned while getting my degree in Religious Education. (That sounded really snotty. Not my intention.)


Heavy



So I was thinking about love and went to the Bible. I read 1 Corinthians 13 , the love chapter.  So today I focused on what love does, or more importantly, how I show love. Not just to my husband or son, but everyone. Tough one.

13:7 bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things.



Bears all things. Supports, never gives up, protects, all different versions of the word "bears".  But what does it mean to bear all things.

Many of us believe that to bear a burden is of course the right Christian thing to do. But truth be told it is probably one of the most difficult things to do, simply because it requires us to put aside our own emotions and feelings in order to care for someone else.  Whew... heavy.

When we truly love someone we need to learn to be there for them whatever trials they are going through. This includes your husband, children, family, and even your brothers and sisters in Christ or strangers.

Bearing all things means sticking by the ones you love and encouraging them even if you are frustrated with them. It is doing what’s right, especially when we don’t feel like it, because you love them and you want to honor God.


Giving up on someone you love is not the way to honor God.  Now, if the situation is dangerous you can still love, pray, and bear their burden from a distance.

Jesus was the greatest example of loving everyone no matter their burden or sin. Jesus ate with the sinners, washed their feet, forgave them, and the ultimate He died for them.

Jesus showed us what it means to "bear all things" to show His love for us, and for our Father. Bearing all things with require some sacrifice, might be painful, and could possibly just suck. However, when we bear each others burdens we are loving those around us the way Jesus showed His love to the world.

Sometimes I can get so caught up in how the other persons problem is making me feel that I forget to consider THEIR own personal struggle.

Love one another as Jesus did, and encourage others to do the same this Valentine's Day.

Sad Day

It is another sad day for our small town. A funeral for someone who died way too soon. We have all heard that everything is in God's timing. Which is easy to say, but hard to accept. 



Since SL and I have moved to this town 3 1/2 years ago there have been 5 teenagers pass away. All of these have been a shock to our community. I have never seen anything like this before. 5 teens dying in the span of 3 years all from car accidents.

So as I type this my hubby is at our church attending the 5th funeral of a students he knew as the student minister at our church.  Many of our students don't understand how God would allow this to happen. We don't have eloquent words for them. All we have is that we don't understand God's timing. However we have to continue to have faith that God is in control and that these tragedies are all apart of God's plan.



This tiny town has had it's share, plus more, of tragedy.  Many unexpected deaths, serious drug problems, failing economy, and even a devastating fire.

In April of 2009 a massive wild fire came to the very edge of our town. It burned down about 6 houses and completely destroyed a manufacturing plant right outside of town. The fire reached the main intersection of town and burned the shoulders of the road.  The fire was so large and because the winds were blowing the smoke filled the city. I took my son covered his face with a wet clothe, grabbed my pets, our important papers and our computer. I picked up my husband and we tried to find a way out of town. We reached the neighboring town were my husband's grandmother lived and stayed there until we received word that all was ok later that night. We returned home to a very smelly town and house that smelled like burnt peas. Terrible. The plant never recovered and moved to another town. 50 people were now out of work.

All of this to say, God we continue to rely on you. We don't understand why these things keep happening to our town, but I have faith that you have big plans for us. As it dangles on the edge of collapse, I know you are in control.



Please pray as you read this for the family who has lost their son, grandson, brother, and friend. They will need it in the coming days.

David Crowder Band - SMS [Shine]