She Speaks

Hey ya'll. Lysa TerKeurst is giving away a scholarship to the She Speaks Conference so go to her site and enter to win!! As part of the "official entry rules" I'm supposed to write about why I'd like to go to this conference. All I can say is that I've wanted to go for some time because I feel the Lord is calling me to more than just leading worship. I have no real idea where to go next or what exactly He's called me to but I've known for quite some time that this conference would be more than just a little "notch" in my know how!! If you know what I mean! haha

I've had several friends go and tell me what an impact it had on the direction of their ministry and I can only hope the same would be true for me, so pick me Lysa, pick me!!!!! ;-)

Thank you Jesus!!

Woohoooo!! My computer is back!! Thank you Jesus!! Know that I say that with sincerity and not flippantly. I know there are some that think this bloggy world is ridiculous but I have truly missed keeping up with all of you and having you peek into my life.

So, my little computer person just finished and I've got to go over to the prayer room at church at 9:00 so I can't tell you all that the Lord has been doing in me now but I promise I will sit down and update. I will tell you that in the last 10 days or so, I have felt His REAL Presence in my life greater than ever before. Ya'll, our Abba Daddy wants His princesses to know that He loves us, unconditionally, He hurts when we hurt and He will protect us, comfort us and see us thru EVERY situation we face!! He is faithful! It's not what He does, it's part of who He is!! I love ya'll and I can't wait to sit down and catch up with you!!

BROKEN...

My computer is broken, my heart has been broken, my spirit has been broken. Broken. Such an ugly word. Thoughts that come with things that are broken usually are ugly as well.

However, God the Father, the Great Restorer, the Great Healer, has put the pieces of my heart, the pieces of my spirit and soon the pieces of my computer (haha) back together!! I'm in the library now because I've been anxious to share with you so many things, but I'll be back up and running on Thursday!! PRAISE GOD!!

My mom ended up suffering "multiple" strokes (in the words of the Dr) all over her brain. She has been moved to a rehab facility and God has been so faithful to answer your prayers. Her life was spared because of them. Her gross (major) motor skills were spared. Her speech is slurred and she has difficulty swallowing as well as her fine motor skills (the ability to use a fork, pen, etc) have been affected but the Dr.'s believe with rehab she should be able to return to a mostly independent life. God is good!!!

My heart was broken when I had to leave her to come back to NC. My daughter heart was torn, but my momma heart broke into a million pieces! Watching my babies tell her goodbye not sure of the future, watching them cry for miles down the road - well, you can just imagine. God filled my van with His love and compassion for us and we just turned on the praise music and sang our little hearts out!!!

I only have a few minutes left on this computer but I wanted to thank each of you for taking my family and I to the Father's throne and I pray that He will reward each of you with showers and showers of blessing!! I'll be back in a few days and I have missed you all terribly!!! Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts! You were heard!!

Leigh - I'll be in touch soon! I miss you girl!
Nicki - THANK YOU SO MUCH for the sweet card! I'll blog more about the retreat later!! God was faithful on the mountain!
Heather - I'm praying for you and I'll be in touch as soon as my computer's back on!
Tracy - Girl, hang in there - God has a plan for that sweet baby girl of yours!!! Lay her at His feet!!
Love to each of you and I'll be back soon!!
God is good all the time and all the time God is good!!!!!

PLEASE DON'T SMOKE!!!

Just a quick update on my mom. I'm still in WV - it's almost 1:00AM Tues - and my mom is still in ICU. She was a smoker as a teen and into her early 30's and now suffers from COPD among multiple other issues. Her inability to move oxygen in and move carbon dioxide out has led to her having high blood pressure and now has caused her to have multiple mini-strokes. We know of at least 3 since 2004 and are awaiting MRI results for a possible 4th.

So please pray first for ANYONE you know that smokes. BEG them to stop! Pray for the Lord to empower them to turn away from this stronghold the enemy has on them! Second pray for my mom to be able to breathe and get her blood pressure under control to prevent further damage to her brain. Third pray for me as I'm going to have to head home later today and it's really going to be hard for me to leave. Also for traveling mercies.

Sorry this is short and sweet but I'm totally exhausted!! Thanks for the prayers! I feel them. May the Lord bless you and yours for taking the time to lift up my family and I! May He be exalted even in times that seem to make absolutely no sense to us!!!

Weekend Worship

This song just makes me happy and He is good ALL THE TIME!!! Have a great weekend and thank you so much for your prayers. I'll try to update after I get to WV.

Update - He's STILL/ALWAYS Good!!

Ok, here's the latest. Mom's still in the ICU and things aren't improving as well as we all hoped. As she is becoming more aware of what's happening she's also becoming more and more afraid. In fact, she asked the nurse to call one of us to come in. THAT hurts. God, please settle my mom. Please be her constant companion now more than ever. Let her feel Your Presence in a REAL way right this minute. Settle me too, Father!

I was going to blog about my "God Calling" today but I'll just share a couple of lines so that you can know how sweet our Abba Daddy is to me! This was His love letter to me today.
"Does one worrying thought enter your mind, one impatient thought? Fight it at once. Love and Trust are the solvents for the worry and cares and frets of a life. Apply them at once." I told you He was sweet! Don't you just love Him so much? I know I certainly do!!


So many things are happening I don't understand Father, but I do know that You are good. I do know that Your mercies endure forever and I do know that Your plans for me and for my mom are plans that will not bring us harm. I ask that you be more near to us today than ever before. Lord I pray that by the blood of Jesus I will overcome all the enemies attempts to sit in fear and worry! I trust You, Abba Daddy, and I know You are in control. Guide the Dr's and nurses that are taking care of mom. Give them wisdom and understanding and the proper treatment to make her better. No matter the outcome I will turn back and give You praise for it all!! I love you Father and it's in the name of Your Son, my precious Savior Jesus I ask all these things. Amen.

Life is hard, but God is good!!

I love that old Kim Hill song and the lyrics are SO true!! Sometimes we're just sailing along and WHAM-O! we're hit with something we never saw coming and other times we can see it coming from a mile away but there's not one single thing we can do to stop it! This is where I find myself today.

My mom was taken from her Dr. appointment yesterday to the ER - by ambulance. The Dr. was so concerned with her blood pressure that she wouldn't allow my sister to drive mom there. (It was 231/112!!) Without going into all the details, mom is now in the ICU where they're trying to stabilize her pressure and get her oxygen levels where they need to be. Mom's had a lot of medical problems over the years - my friend Terry, a nurse, said "Girl, your mom's a medical nightmare!" which she is. Like I said I've seen this coming for some time so now, here we are.

It's tough being 4 hours away. It's tough not being able to talk to the Dr.'s myself and rely on someone else to get information to me. (given my medical background I'm a "need to know" kinda girl when this kinda stuff comes up) It's tough to not worry and be afraid. It's tough to not be able to look at mom, pat her hand and tell her things are gonna be ok. It's tough. But I trust God more than I trust ANY Dr. I trust God more than I trust my sister - and I'd trust her with my life. I trust God more than anything! I know that He'll guide the Dr.'s and give them wisdom - I know He'll give my mom peace and comfort and keep her from being lonely and afraid - and I know that He'll sustain me during this time - because I asked Him to. See, my God has been so faithful to me in my life that I KNOW He'll take care of all of this. My only request is that you'll join me is asking Him to do the same!!

I'll try to keep you updated! Thanks.

Are you trustworthy?

I was reading about Caleb and how the Lord found him trustworthy and it really got me thinking. I've had issues with trust in my life. Some pits I jumped into with both feet, some pits I was slung into by the hair of my head and some I gradually slid into caused me to come out not trusting people. Then the Lord puts me with a man whose 1st wife had an affair so he obviously had developed some trust issues as well.

I imagine that Caleb had a rough life. The book we're doing as a church "Divine Encounters in the Old Testament" has been truly amazing and this story of Caleb really got me thinking. Caleb's name meant dog. Now in our society today people don't really put much stock in the meaning of a name - it's mostly for sentimental value. But in Caleb's day - now that was a different story. I imagine people throwing dog biscuits at him (or whatever scraps of food they had), people barking at him, telling him to stay...you get the idea. Sidebar - what in the world were his parents thinking? It's as bad as the guy in WV when I was growing up named Hogjaw Twaddle! For real! It was listed in the phone book that way!! hahahaha

Ok, back to Caleb. Despite his past God found him to be a whole-hearted servant. Trustworthy. I wonder, does God say the same of me? Does He look at me and say "Now there's one I know I can trust with this?" I know there've been times in my life when He wouldn't even consider it, but thank you Jesus, I'm not that person anymore!! Not to say I still don't fall flat on my face - OFTEN - but I know He's finding me (at least a little) trustworthy. Mainly that's because I've been in the place where there was no one and no thing left to trust but Him! Where everywhere I looked there were lies, deceit and fakeness! (is that a word? Guess not the spellcheck says so but I like it!) I've been driven to the point that all I could do was say "God, I do not understand this, I don't like it and I'm quite angry about it, BUT I trust You! I trust Your hand and Your will so I will follow."

Have you been to that place? Are you there now? Let me just tell you that He is the ONLY thing you can trust and He is the ONLY One trustworthy!!! He can take 2 messed up people like Jimmy and I - 2 people who trust others as much as we can pick them up and throw them and make us love and trust each other COMPLETELY! With our whole hearts!!! THAT is the Hand of God!! That's what He wants for all of us!! Won't you trust Him with it?!

"When I leave I wanna go out like Elijah"

I had the honor of seeing Rich Mullins perform this song live and I have ALWAYS loved it!! This weekend God sent me to 1 Kings to do a little reading on our chariot-riding friend and let me tell you that I think he and I are going to be GREAT friends in heaven! Not because I'll be in the same social circles as him there, but our sarcastic personalities will link us together! (ok, ya'll know I'm kidding right?!)

Anyway, as he's callin' out the prophets of Baal for speaking against God and they're praying for a little "sign" from their god and he busts them, oh land sakes it just cracked me up!! They cried out to Baal from morning til noon and nothin! They danced around the little altar they made doing their best to get his attention. (I'm sure they thought nothing like a little prophet electric slide would get them noticed!) So what my friend Elijah say? (this is the VV -Valarie Version) Yell louder ya'll! He must be in a yoga class or maybe he's on the cell phone, did he go on vacation and forget to tell ya'll? (see I told you we'd be GREAT friends!)

So what do they do? They cut off the slide music and start slicing themselves with their swords! WHAT?! Now if I was a bystander to this little "show" that right there would've made me jump on God's side! Ain't no WAY I'm gonna slice myself!! C-R-A-Z-Y!! So they kept this up til it was time for the evening sacrifice and what did they get....a big fat NOTHIN!!! This is where it gets good! Elijah calls the people over and rebuilds the altar these bozo's had torn down and then he places 12 stones around it, dug a trench around that. He lays out the wood, cuts up the bull (in more ways than one! haha), and puts it on top. Has them pour 4 large jars of water on it not once, but 3 times so it's good and soaked and even the trench was filled up. Then he steps back and sets the whole thing on fire - no - then he starts his own version of the electric slide - no - then he whips out the trusty sword - no! HE PRAYS!!!!

Do you get that?! He PREPARES the altar, goes thru the steps of getting the sacrifice ready and then he PRAYS!! And what a prayer it is! "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command." Ok, let me pause for a sec here. He first makes it clear to ALL who are listening exactly who it is he's praying to and makes it clear that he IS who he says he is! "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again." I Kings 18:36b-37 Does that prayer hit you like it hits me? He could've asked God for revenge on these false prophets or he could've asked God to blast them all off the planet - anything! But what does he pray for? For God to show Himself to the listeners so that they will turn back to Him! He doesn't ask for any harm on anyone (at least not yet anyway!) or for God to do anything magical or mystical! He just asks for God to reveal Himself to be the One True God so that people would know He's calling them to Himself! Does that blow your mind?!! It sure did mine!!!

Now if you don't know the rest of the story you'll have to go read it, but if you do, you know that God showed up and He showed off that day!! I love that about God! He's a show off kinda God!! So Elijah was an amazing man - flawed with a sarcastic tongue - but God still did some AMAZING things thru him. Now, PLEASE don't think I'd dare compare myself to this amazing prophet I'm just saying that stories like his give me such hope! That's why God has them in the Word in the first place! To encourage us that we WILL mess up but He will clean us up!!! Love that about Him!!

Ya'll have a great one - the little ones will be here soon!

Weekend Worship

Little late gettin this one out, but land sakes, SOMEBODY lift your hands!!! WOOOOOO!!

Lighten up....

Ok, so after yesterday's blog I thought I'd lighten things up a bit today! Sorry about getting so fired up, but that's who I am! hahaha



Some of you may remember that I jumped off the bridge of faith and landed in the role of leading a Bible study for the ladies of our music ministry. Well, it's happening and we've had 19 women sign up so far!!! That's AMAZING!! I thought it would just be me and my girlfriends that I MADE come! hahahahaha I'm telling you that God is gonna have to empower me like He never has before because....well I'm just not gonna allow Satan to remind me of what I'm NOT and I'm just gonna trust what God IS and what God CAN DO in any old donkey! (I mean, if He can make a stubborn donkey talk, come on...) All I ask is that you be in prayer for our study. It's God's study and it's God's agenda NOT MINE!!!

It's just like God to have me studying Moses in the "Divine Encounters" book and then to have Solomon all around me at the same time. I can feel Him telling me that it doesn't matter if I STINK at being a speaker or it doesn't matter what my past was. All that matters is that I'm seeking His wisdom, that all I want is to know Him more and HE will handle the rest. I can see that promise with this study! I doubted that people would want to come. I doubted that we'd find a leader. I doubted that I would be that leader. Sin, sin, sin. So I spent some time on my face and....here we are. It's funny because the old Valarie would be freakin' COMPLETELY out over this. But God (woohooo) has been sending me such AMAZING love notes to reassure me that I can do all things thru Christ who gives me strength! If I will get out of His way, well, I'd better hold on tight!!

So that's what I'm doing. I'm holding on, I'm trusting Him, I'm leaning on HIS understanding and knowing that HE will make my path straight! Listen to these lines from my God Calling yesterday "Do you not see that I am a Master Instrument-maker? Have I not fashioned each part? Do I now know just what it can bear without a strain? Would I, the maker or so delicate an instrument, ask of it anything that could destroy or strain?" LAND SAKES!! Don't you just love our God?! I know I sure do!! Ya'll have a great day and I'll talk to ya tomorrow!! Show some love today!!!

I'm Determined

2 Chron. 29:10-11 "I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well."

As promised, I'm coming back to this AWESOME verse in 2 Chron today. When I was researching verse 11 - which was the one that Dr. Doug shared with us in choir practice - I went to my trusty Bible Gateway site and pulled up several different translations of this verse but every time I kept coming back to The Message translation. Now, I know some people have a problem with the Message and no, I don't think you should build your theology on it, however, it is a FANTASTIC reference!! (Before I go any further please know that I'm no theologian here, just a girl trying to bring alive the Word in my life!)

When I tried to pull up verse 11 it would bring verse 10 with it. I guess so that you could have the context, but me being the way I am, I went back and tried it time and time again and EVERY time it would bring along verse 10, so like I said yesterday, "Am I listening?" So I took some time in verse 10. "I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel" I've done the Beth Moore tabernacle study where she goes to great lengths to explain what making a covenant is all about. It's soooo much more than a promise. To try to explain it, think of a time you've heard a war hero telling a story that he promised to come back for his wounded buddy, and he does and rescues them both. That soldier wasn't just making a flippant promise, he was going to do whatever it took to get himself back to rescue his friend. Even if it meant dying in the process. Now that's making a covenant!!

"and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us." Now this part of the verse tore me up!! I'm going to make a vow to God to try to change history. This verse is talking about a time when God was angry with the Israelites and their whining. Can anyone relate to that? I know I sure can!! I know that I've made God angry. I've hurt His heart. I've disappointed Him. I've disrespected Him. (with worry, thanks Lisa!) So as I sat here and read this verse the Lord spoke to me that it's time to change MY history. It's time to change the history of my family, the history of the music ministry, the history of my church. Now, I'm no Moses, but the best way I can wage war in this battle is on my knees! On my knees for my man and my kids. Ok, let me stop right there. If you don't know this about me yet, I'm a pray-er! I love to pray, I've prayed for years. But God (woooo love that) showed me that it's more than the obligatory, "protect them, keep them healthy," etc) it's time to get on my face and pray some specifics. Pray for Jimmy's heart at work, pray for his eyes as he's in an environment with a lot of women, pray for his hands to be prosperous. You get what I'm saying here? God doesn't want to hear what I'm "supposed" to pray about, He wants to hear me pleading for the things that matter most to me. He wants my praise not my laundry list of "needs"!

So here's the challenge. "Children don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you..." Do you hear that? It's time to get off the fence! It's time to stop playing church! It's time to stop going to God like He's a genie in a bottle waiting to grant your every wish! It's time to stop dragging your feet thinking, well I've blown it today, I'll start tomorrow. No!! DO IT NOW! Tell Him now! Pray now!! Do you want to change history for this country? It's not about primaries or candidates - even if change is their motto - it's about all of us - every one of us who is CHOSEN getting on our knees and making a covenant to do it EVERY day, every hour, every time He lays it on our hearts and minds. Sisters, don't drag your feet any more!!!!!

God is speaking!!! Am I listening?

Ok, so a slight detour from the 2 Chron verse today. I'll be back to that though. So my sweet friend Melissa reminded us of how God often repeated things He wanted to be SURE we heard, or how he would call people by name over and over to make sure they were listening. (Think of Jesus saying "Peter, do you love me?") So I just had to share about my day yesterday.

So, I told you about that INCREDIBLE sermon Dr. Rummage shared yesterday morning from Prov. 4:5-9 on gaining wisdom. I mean, it was like he could've started sentences with my name!! In fact, a couple of times I was certain he did! The funny thing is Nicki and Mandy said the exact same thing happened to them! THAT'S when you know God is speaking!! So, anyway, I started a new devotional book called "Completely Loved" and I've really been enjoying it. I pick it up and the devotion title was "You are completely loved by your Wise Counselor"! OH YES! The devotion was drawn from Solomon's prayer for wisdom. I just sat there cracking up!

THEN, I'm in the car talking to my sister on the phone about my mom and the latest with that (which your prayers are being heard sweet sisters! She's had several good days with just a hint of confusion, but no hallucinations!!) and I had the radio turned down. When we're done I turn up the radio and Leslie Niese goes "So I opened up my Bible and began reading about Solomon asking God for wisdom"!! I NEARLY WRECKED THE CAR!!! So do ya think maybe God is trying to tell me to just seek Him and not try to do this life thing on my own?! I'm thinkin' so!! I just had to share all that with you guys! God just cracks me up! My personality is one that I see the humor in everything He does - well most everything! Anyway, I just love Him so and I just can't wait to get to heaven and tell Him to His holy face!!!!

PS - Please pray for sweet Tracy today. She hasn't blogged much lately because she started a new job but her grandfather died yesterday. Her grandma passed right before Thanksgiving and she said that he was just waiting to get her thru before he joined her. Pray that God will comfort her and remind her that He has a plan in all this! Thanks.
God in heaven, wrap your arms of comfort and peace around my sweet sister Tracy today. She's been so faithful in visiting her grandparents in the nursing home and I'm sure this is going to be yet another adjustment and change in her life, but you remind her today that You have a plan and that You will show yourself worthy of praise even in the valley of the shadow of death! Thank you for bringing her into my life! I love you Lord. In Jesus' name I ask these things. Amen.
Love ya T!


ADDED: Thought this was worth poppin' back on to share with you all! God is even speaking thru my kids. My daughter Kayley had to write out a New Year's wish tonight as part of her Kindergarten homework. Yes, I said KINDERGARTEN homewordk. Anyway, I asked her what her wish for the new year was and she said "For everybody to love each other more, Mommy. You know, like Jesus love us." KILLED ME!! Land sakes sometimes they can be so sweet you could just squeeze them!! hahaha

GET BUSY!!

"Children, don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well." 2 Chron 29:11 (The Message)

LAND SAKES! What an awesome day of worship yesterday! THE WHOLE DAY was just one of those that made me go to bed with a smile on my face!! Dr. Rummage's sermon yesterday - whew! just about blew me away (I'll share more on that later) - my Sunday school class was great - we had breakfast! hahaha - the worship time was sweeter than it had been in a while - sometimes Christmas music gets a bit "old" after 4 or 5 weeks - and then last night we had a deacon ordination. I don't know what your theology is, but deacon and pastor ordinations are just about the sweetest thing ever. Last night there were 3 men from my Sunday school class ordained, one of which was my best friend Antonia's husband Steve. Antonia took the pics you saw of my family! They have been thru a LOT and let me just tell you that his ordination is a testimony to the fact that God is faithful to heal and restore the time of the locusts! It's just so sweet to see my pastor on his knees before these men praying for and encouraging them. Good stuff!

So anyway, during our choir practice, Dr. Doug, our music minister shares the above verse with us. Not exactly that version, but the verse. It hit me like a ton of bricks!! The first line "Children, don't drag your feet in this!" It's time to get busy! The Word just comes right out and tell us not to drag our feet! WHOA! I mean, how often are we asked to do something and say "Well, let me pray about it" which sometime means, I don't really want to do this, but maybe if I stall long enough they'll ask someone else. Come on, let's get real. You KNOW that's really what you've wanted to say but didn't have the courage - I know I have!! After the sermon yesterday and then this verse last night I know God was telling me to get busy! Now, I know I am busy, but I just wonder how effective I am with the time God gives me. Am I making an impact on eternity? How often do I take shortcuts, cut corners so I can have a few "down" moments? Now, don't go there, I KNOW there's a time to rest, but still....I think you know where I'm going here.

I want more than anything to be an effective servant. To do EXACTLY what the Lord wants me to do and there's no way to know EXACTLY what that is if I'm not busy on my face and in the Word seeking it! Which leads to Dr. Rummage's sermon yesterday. I won't share the WHOLE thing cause you can go to our site and listen for yourself, but it was about wisdom. What it is and how to get it. Here were 4 tips he shared on how to get wise.
1. Don't assume you know it all. (OUCH! Ok, that could've been the whole message for me!)
2. Listen to Godly instruction. (From people you KNOW are Godly, not just have the title of it.)
3. Choose wise people for your closest friends.
4. Pursue a relationship with Jesus. (How can you be like someone you don't know?)
To gain wisdom, to know where we are to serve, to know if we're supposed to take that job, to know if that guy we just met is the ONE, to know what to do with our aging parents, to know what to do with our kids who won't listen, to know what to do with our life it's time to get busy! It's time to stop dragging our feet and get with it!!

Since this post is getting a bit long I'm gonna spend a day or two more on this verse! LOVE it!!!!

Weekend Worship

Lord God, this is gonna be a long storm but I will praise you!!! You are good and You have a plan. This didn't take you one tiny bit by surprise!! I love you Father!!

Sometimes He calms the storm and other times...

He calms His child. Today the Creator of the Universe is cradling this child in His arms and calming me. He has to because He's all I have.

There's been some problems with my mom over the last year, things just haven't been right. She had a stroke the day my brother-in-law died and since then we've all noticed little things. Things forgotten. Social skills slipping. Mixed directions. Little things. A week before Christmas however, she was driving and ran up onto a curb and busted her tire. She wasn't hurt - thank God - but she was VERY confused after that and was hospitalized because her blood pressure was high. After a battery of tests - all of which were normal - we were told that given her decreased mental status from the stroke and the fact that her BP was so high, that was the cause of her problems and once her BP was under control, things should be fine. Boy, were they wrong.

Yesterday, after some very serious things came up with my mom, we were told that all her tests from the hospital were NOT normal. Her CT scan shows very clear dementia. She is now unable to live alone. She can't drive. She can't have access to her meds without supervision.

So as my sisters, my brother and I figure out how we're going to deal with this, my Abba Daddy sends me a little kiss this morning thru my "God Calling". Here's the title for today. "Do Not Plan". "All is well. Wonderful things are happening. Do not limit God at all. He cares and provides. Leave tomorrow's burden. Christ is the Great Burden-bearer. You cannot bear His load and He only expects you to carry a little day-share." Does that blow your mind, or what?! THEN, guess what my devotional verse was this morning. Ps 121:1-2 "I lift my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Somebody wants to say "there is a God in heaven"!!!!

Father God, Abba Daddy, thank you for loving me. Thank you for comforting me. Thank you for reminding me that you are the source of my strength. That you have a plan. That you are in control and I don't need to try to fix this!! Oh I how love you so!!! Thank you. I will lift my eyes to the hills and your praise shall continually be on my lips! I love you Lord!!!

Let's go.......MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!

Busy morning and day today but I had to stop and give a big ole' shout out to coach Stewart and the West Virginia MOUNTAINEERS!!!!! WWWAAAHHHOOOOOO!!!!!

The game was AWESOME and the 'EERS did us proud!!! So glad the school did the right thing and hired Coach Stewart! Ya'll have a good one and celebrate our victory with me! BTW who is Rich Rodriguez anyway!!! hahahaha

2nd post - here's a few more pics of the family!

What a day!!

Well I can't believe how late it is and I'm just now sitting down. After waking, spending some time with my Abba Daddy and getting everyone up and back at the routine I had a TON to do today. Got all my Christmas decorations down and it's weird because last night I was SOOOO ready to bid them farewell for a while and now that it's done I'm actually kinda sad. This Christmas was just an AWESOME time! The last few haven't been all that great since my dad died in Nov of '02 and my brother-in-law in Sept of '04. It was nice to stay home and just be together and to be happy.

Anyway, the job is done and it's time to get busy. Since my only trip outside was to the Target to get some medicine for Josh and a few other essentials I wasn't sure how I could show someone some extra 'love' today. But God (oh how I love those 2 words) put my old neighbor in the video game section and of course my 2 boys HAD to just look around so we "bumped" into each other. Now, I LOVE her dearly and her girls are just about the sweetest things EVER but my heart is just so sad for them. They are practicing Jehovah's Witnesses. So, I told her how much we miss their family and asked them if we could get together soon. I pray that when we get our kids together they may see something in our lives that is missing in their own. So I left there knowing I hadn't done anything special to show "love" to her but God reminded me that the battle is His. I can't save ANYONE! I can't force ANYONE to believe anything. All I can do is be His spokesperson and love them.

So, I pick up my God Calling this evening and it was great!!! I'll share again! If you're tired of hearing about this book, well, go buy your own! hahaha "Never let one day pass when you have not reached out an arm of Love to someone outside your home - a note, a letter, a visit, help in some way." CAN YOU STINKIN' BELIEVE THAT?! I promise that's what it said!! God just cracks me up!!! Also at the end it says "How many burdens can you lighten this year? How many hearts can you cheer? How many souls can you help? And in giving you gain: 'Good measure, pressed down and running over.' I your Lord have said it." DO YOU LOVE THAT? That's going on my list for the year!! Show some love today, cheer a heart!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I can't believe how fast 2007 went. It seems to have been a total blur! So many changes in 2007. Most of which occurred inside but some were outside too. Some I was happy to see change - like my new do - but some, not so much - like my weight. YUK! I can tell you that the changes on the inside have been amazing to see though! So much to be thankful for.

Last night I rang in the new year in a place, that to those who have known me for a long time, would be QUITE a shocker!! It was a very low-key new year starting with a LONG bath around 5:00pm - which was nice little treat - while my little ones took a mandatory nap! They went kicking and screaming but were all snoring sweetly in minutes. (Is snoring sweetly an oxymoron?) haha Anyway, after dinner we got the kids in their PJ's and went over to my friend Lisa's. We joined 3 other couples - all decked in our PJ's as well - and we watched movies until about 11:00. Then the adults all loaded up, drove down to our church and rang in the new year on our faces in the prayer room!! We began praying by about 11:30pm and finally wound things down at 1:20am!!! It was an AMAZING time! None of us stopped to kiss our spouse as Midnight came, none of us stopped to wish the others a happy new year, we all just stayed on our faces praising God, praying for our marriages, our families, our church, our city, our nation, our leaders and whatever else the Lord laid on our hearts. It was the most amazing new year I think I've ever had!!

I talked yesterday about not making resolutions that I know I won't keep in the coming weeks and I intend to hold to that, however, there are a few things I'd like to actively work at changing. First, is loving God more! Falling deeper and deeper into His Word and crawling up in His lap every morning! Spending more and more time on my knees. Second, loving my man more and showing him more respect EVERY day! Third, loving my kids more and releasing MY expectations for their future and remembering that God has the ultimate plan for their lives - not me! (Don't think that means I'm not gonna give them a beat down when they need it though! haha JK!) Fourth is loving my family and friends more and releasing them from meeting needs in me that they can't possibly meet. (That goes for Jimmy and my kids too!) Last, I am gonna lose weight! Not because I want to look great or feel better about myself, but because my body is the temple of God and I have not been treating it with the respect it deserves. Overeating is sin. Laziness is sin. I will watch what I eat and I will exercise!! SIMPLE!!

So, as we face the coming weeks I pray to share more with you about how God is working in me and showing me how to love Him more, how to serve Him more and how to love those around me more! I MIGHT keep you posted on the weight thing too! hahaha Love and blessings to each of you in the coming year and I pray that each of you will dive deep into the well of the Word, the bread of Life, the hope and promise of the future!! I pray that you'll spend time with Him everyday and communicate with Him OFTEN during your day!! I know I'm certainly going to!