Happy Tuesday

We just had a smooth morning of getting ready and out the door.  I am sitting here with time to spare it feels like.  I think that it is not time but my mood is easy going.  I did not have to get onto kids by repeating myself over and over....and over.

Get dressed, brush your teeth, stop playing, get dressed, leave your brother alone, brush your teeth, get dressed, breakfast is at the table, let the dog out, get dressed, tie your shoes, ask Dad to comb your hair, leave the toys alone, get dressed, please eat, no you can do that, get dressed......whew just typing this out is exhausting!

How do we do this Monday-Friday? More importantly, I am asking myself how do I do this in a peaceful manner?

1. Layout clothes the night before.
2. Remind kids that in the morning we have to get ready. (they may forget in their sleep)
3. Wake up with enough time to not be so groggy ...there will be a day that kids will wake up before me and get ready.  Right?!
4. Plan out lunch boxes the night before.
5. Pray, pray,pray

The thing though is that at night I just want them to go to bed so when the house is finally settled I do not want to prep.....ugh the cycle!

But you know what? I love my life....I love these kids and I will continue to find ways to show them love even through repetitious mornings.

Hope your enjoying some quiet time as your reading this.

Happy Tuesday

Friendship is powerful

But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

Luke 5:19

I love how the stories in Bible can still come to life despite hearing them for so many years.  I have heard this story many times but I grasped in my heart the importance of friendship.  I love how we do not compartmentalize our friendships based on church, family and/or work.  But despite all being busy and all over the place we strive to live life together.

I really could say much more to this but right now I am simply thankful for the image of friendship in this story.  As a friend I cannot wait to have the opportunity to knock down some tiles and help my friends get in front of Jesus for their miracle! I cannot wait to say, "I know that Jesus has the answer for you and we will not give up!" Many times we search for friendship to hang out or talk with but friendship is so much more.

I cannot take lightly the difference my friendship can make.  I cannot take lightly the friendships around me as they can make a diference in my life!  This is what life is about. I am thankful for my friends and the meaning they bring to my life.  Like I stated I am thankful that despite the business we have found friends that include us.  Friends that we include into our lives.

Friendship is powerful...it is God given!

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24 (ESV)

We have been on vacation since December 19th so today was, for me, back to work.  Waking up early was not difficult this morning however now I am a bit sluggish.  I wake up every morning with a desire to be better today then yesterday.  To not loose my cool, to not overreact, to not be lazy and so on and so forth.  

Maybe instead I should build on the good thing I did yesterday and already start my day in the hole from yesterday.  I hear all the time about being positive and living positive.  I know it is proven that confession is key.  

So today I am putting that to use, saying

  I am going to have a good day!

Journaling

We enjoyed a great break this year for the holidays.  Many posts have been started in my mind and I am ready to put them out in writing.  I started blogging because I wanted to encourage and have a place to speak from my heart what I was learning in God.  From there I just naturally started to write about my family and simple moments in my life that actually were lessons I was walking out.

Now I think that I am in a journaling phase, which is probably the real start to wanting to blog.  I use to journal when I was a teen and right to getting married.  I have no real reason to why or what but like I say I think in some way I can bring encouragement to someone out there.  So here is the next phase in my blog, probably the next phase in my heart that I am willing to share.....

Hey there, Monday!

Well here you. From time to time it is a little bitter sweet when you show up. Not for the same reasons as to why most people don't really like you, but because we just enjoyed such a great weekend.  We started with Friday night family favorite of hot dogs and movie. I know, I know hot dogs but they were turkey and grilled and just my favorite fun food.  I have come to enjoy unwinding Friday evenings with kids filling up our bed watching a movie while Bobby makes dinner. 

This weekend, we enjoyed friends and family.  We had a delicious chicken Santa Fe soup that I created when I had nothing else in my pantry one evening about a year ago.  Add corn bread or tortilla chips, cheese, avocado and table of friends and you have a great evening.  Top that off we had a pumpkin bread with pumpkin buttercream and coffee.  Just delicious.

Other weekend events included driving with friends around town to look at houses.  The hope of them moving to our area was exciting.  We love them and do not get to spend much time with them yet when we do it is like no time or distance has gone by. They started Sunday with us at church, OneChapel.  We were so proud for them to come to church with us....we love our church so much! Bobby ended our weekend with a quick PTA meeting in our home.  

Going to bed content with all that God has brought into our lives makes Monday actually sweet with thankfulness! It is going to be a great week....

Testimony

My husband and I were faced with a possible decision to make yesterday.  It wasn't a life changing kinda of decision but as we talked it out it became a matter of our testimony.  Our testimony to our kids and people around us.  I am using the word testimony but I know that many people get lost in thinking it refers to a religious meaning.   I could say it would affect our reputation or how people percieve us. I like the meaning though, that we do declare, advertise our faith.

Testimony:  evidence in support of a fact or statement; proof.open declaration (advertisement of belief or acknowledgment) or profession, as of faith.

We could have made our decsion on one hand with the right to.  After letting some of the emotions settle, I realized that even though we have the right it, would not give a declaration, an advertisement, a testimony to who we are.  We tell our kids that we love all people, that we are friends to everyone and that we should respect everyone.  Our actions do influence our kids and if we do not take decisions that reflect our belief then we are giving a false testimony.  Sure the kids might not ever know that we considered making this decision but the adults around us would. By all means it would have been understood and even expected for us to do so. However there is a bigger picture with a bigger purpose in front of us.

What an opportunity to show that we believe, that we trust and stand confident in the bigger picture.  Granted if needed we will speak up but as we saw last night we have not been given a reason to.  Quite opposite we have been given the ability to show a good testimony of giving other people around us a chance!

What a lesson for the kids to learn...yet I am the one that is learning!

Heart Conversations

Last Tuesday while washing dishes for like the 20th time that day I heard a whisper in my heart.  It was so strong in my spirit that I knew it was an answer to an ongoing prayer I have had all summer! I was reminded of my dream, my vision for what I see myself serving God in.  See I have not doubted what and where I am to be, just the how.  It was like an encouraging nod that I am going in the right direction towards the how.

More then what was whispered in my heart I want share the joy that I was not 'to busy' to hear.  That I reconigezed that still small voice. I know we pray, we seek and we hear but there are times when we need to  recalculate our steps a bit.  In doing so we avoid going through the motions and can find a fresh new renewal.

The new series at church is "Conversations with God". Sitting in church the first Sunday I found myself thinking, "great message on prayer, I know this and agree" then at that same moment Pastor Ross said "even if you know this and do this you should consider a fresh look at how you are praying".   So I have been putting effort in making small adjustments to my prayer time, to my conversation with God.  As I have done that I have heard God whisper in my heart through conversations with Him and those around me.

Be encouraged to tweak, to make any small adjustments or to just sit still so that you can feel renewed in your heart.  God has great things for us in our day to day so let's have an ongoing conversation with God!

A God Outing

We have enjoyed our family all weekend long.  My mother in law came last Thursday to bring Noah home and to spend some days with us.  My mother in law has had some real family, in your face hard days this summer.  We have some usual spots and restaurants that we usually do during her visit however this time around we wanted to distract her so that she could feel some rest in her heart.


So Saturday we ventured out to sight see our beautiful city.  When I was younger my parents would take us Zilker Botanical Gardens.  Zilker Botanical Garden is located on 30 acres in Austin, Texas.  Theme gardens such as rose, herb and Japanese garden are interconnected with streams, waterfalls and Koi-filled ponds.  I loved it then and loved it all over again with the kids.  

From the gardens we could see beautiful downtown peeking through the skies.  This reminded of how God created everything and in Him we find our joy.

My mother in law is a strong women who has put all her trust in God.  She does not doubt where her help comes from.  She was also reminded that God is the one that brings strength to us when 

we are weak.

All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.  

Colossians 1:16-17

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is 

declaring the work of His hands.

Psalm 19:1

What a great day of being together in God's nature.  You cannot help to know that God is on our side!

I thank God for his goodness in our lives!

Blossoms of my heart

It has been awhile since I posted....as always though I have posts running around in my mind with not enough time to sit down.  I could sit here and tell you how busy we have been or what not but I am not.  Simply put, I have been finding myself doing some house cleaning in my heart.

You know how you start to clean your closet for Spring getting out cooler clothes and putting away Winter items away.  There are times though that you have to go through Winter items or Spring and know that you no longer need that item.  Very similar to that is what I was doing in my heart. As my husband and I are entering into new areas I knew I needed to make room for what God has in store. It became a bit emotional when I had to just release those things I was holding closely.  However even in those moments I was never alone as God's embrace comforted me.

The timing of this as we are in Spring reminded me of how God brings growth into our life allowing us to see  blossoms that are in us.  So as I enjoy all my Easter/Spring decorations I am enjoying knowing that in my heart I am ready for new blossoms that I am seeing emerge in my heart.

Thought Transformer - The Biology of Hope

Norman Cousins did considerable research on the power of positive emotions such as joy, laughter, and hope. His book, Head First: The Biology of Hope, relates his ten years in the medical community, particularly on the faculty of the School of Medicine of the University of California.  Cousins held the only honorary degree in medicine awarded at Yale University School of Medicine. In his book, he presents massive scientific evidence of the harmful effects of negative emotions and emphasizes the power of hope, faith, and love to enhance healing. 

A study was done by Dr. Joel Dimsdale on those that survived the Nazi death camps during WWII.  Interviewing a number of survivors, Dr. Dimsdale found one element that towered above everything else.  It was hope.  Each survivor had a picture of the future. One saw himself with his family, another was to enjoy Hanukkah again.  Almost every survivor held to one form or another a blind, naked hope,throwing their thoughts into the future, they used hope like a magnet to draw them to safety.

 Action Steps

1). What does your future look like?  Study your thoughts and remove all the ones that bring you down. 

2). Fill your heart and mind with the promises of God.  Allow them to paint a picture of your future. 

3). During the day relive that picture over and over.  You will find strength and energy emerging inside of you.   

Remember you are God's Best, 

Dr. Rob Carman
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Measuring stick of life.

Most things come and go for seasons. Let this question be a measuring stick, a rule….

Verses to ponder on:

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.                Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 (NLT)

 There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.                                      Philippians 1:6 (MSG)

Many of you already know that we go through seasons of change.  In those seasons of change we may experience change, many emotions or victories. But the thought I am poising today is to not loose sight, God  is our focus!

He is with us guiding us through the big picture He has set out for us!

Opposites within

There is the assurance that I have in me that I know that God can and will do anything in our lives.  I trust in that fact as I have seen Him do great things.  Even in that assurance though I find myself a bit concerned because we still have to walk through situations.  In walking through a current situation in my life right now I am learning I have this assurance yet I am concerned.

What am I suppose to do with these two opposites inside me? I know that I should not be double minded. So the best thing I have at hand is to confess God's Word out loud over and over.  Of the two opposites within me I want the assurance in God to rule over the other.  I must remind myself that God's Word does not return void!

What does His Word say? Let's start with Romans 10:8

 The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us.

I am not sure what you may be going through but God is there to go to work and set things right for us! So yes we may have opposites in us but let the word of God, the assurance we have in Him dominate any concern, fear, lack, that is rumbling inside. Grab unto a scripture and speak.  Were not just traveling with Jesus and sight seeing the miracles He has done for others.  We are following Him, participating in His doings for our life.  This may seem all repeat for you but I needed to remind myself that He, Jesus the one that I follow, is greater in me then the opposite even stirring within.

Peace for your day

This is the second morning that I have this prayer for women in general.  I may not know your name or where you are in life however God does.  I pray that his peace surrounds you in all areas of your day.  That His peace that surpass all understanding gives you strengthen within to accomplish any task at hand you may be working on.  In His peace we find that nothing is missing and nothing is broken so let His peace fulfill any need you may have.   Allow for God’s peace to meet you where you are at with no worries,  just trust as God loves us regardless of what we may or may not have done.   In this peace I pray you have a good day!