Thankful week comes to an end.....

Well as you can see I didn't get to make a list each day so I'll wind up this Thanksgiving week with a few more things I'm thankful for.

1. A God who gives second, third and 347,000th chances!!!

2. A Love that would send His Son to a cross.

3. A Plan to get my sorry self to heaven!

4. An opportunity to tell anyone who will listen about how good God REALLY is.

5. Laughter. I think it IS the BEST medicine!!!

6. Safe travels on snowy, wet roads! Thank you Jesus!

7. New opportunities in a hectic schedule. Show Yourself STRONG Jesus!

8. People willing to help others that they don't know.

9. Socks. Yes, I'm thankful for socks.

10. My family. Even the ones who got on my nerves this week - and you know who you are! hahahaha

Hope you had a great week being thankful!

Today's list.....

Today I'm thankful for....
1. My man who doesn't mind runnin' the sweeper and cleanin' up the kitchen for his wife. Acts of service baby - speak away!!! ;-)

2. A car that runs! Thank you Jesus for providing for us so we could get it fixed.

3. Turkeys. Oh yeah. They taste SOOOOO yummy!

4. Pigs. They are equally as yummy! (Sorry to any vegans out there who just gagged!)

5. My mom's freezer box pies. OH LAND SAKES!

6. Naps. Especially the post-turkey ones!

7. Gameboy. 3 kids + 5 hours in the car - you get the picture.

8. Earphones. To go with #7.

9. Long talks in the car. On a rare occasion it happens.

10. The ability to embarrass my kids. Did it this morning when I went to school dressed as the guy in "Oh the Places You'll Go"! Oh yeah! Mission accomplished as a mom!!!

Y'all have a good one and sorry my list isn't very spiritual today, but it is truth! teehee

Week of Thankfulness

I'm going to be traveling this week, but I'd like to challenge anyone reading this to come up with a list of 10 things they are thankful for every day this week. Your 10 things can't be repeated either. Here's mine.....

Today I'm thankful for......
1. My man. We had a rough weekend with my van breaking down, but he took care of things, like he always does. He's the BEST thing on this earth to happen to me. I love you Jimmy!

2. My kids. They make me laugh, make me cry, they challenge me in SOOO many ways. They are the biggest blessing in my life.

3. My church. So many people sit back and find everything wrong they can find with their church - and believe me there's things I'd like to see change - but I'm so thankful to be a member of the Grove and love the family I've made there.

4. My Sunday school class. Oh y'all. Yesterday was just an amazing day. The girls are really opening up and bearing their hearts to us. It's an awesome responsibility and I'm so thankful the Lord has entrusted me with it!

5. My health. Y'all. My body HURTS this time of year - especially when it's really cold, but I'm so thankful that the Lord protects me and strengthens me. He is my Jehovah-Rapha.

6. My friends. I started to name the names of those I'm thankful for but the list just kept growing and growing because the Lord has TRULY blessed me with amazing women (and their hubbies too!) who challenge me, love on me, help me and just listen. I love you guys!

7. My sisters. Today, I have to say that I just can't hardly wait to get to WV and get my arms around their necks! They are truly my best friends! I love them both so much and miss them like CRAZY!! We're gonna have SO MUCH FUN this week! I love you T and Moe!

8. My brother. Guess I better be thankful for him too, huh? haha JK!! I love you Jeff and I want to thank you for steppin up and filling in for Daddy! He would be so proud of you!! I am too!

9. Derrick and Amy. Thanks you guys for letting us rent your home! We are so grateful to you both and love living here.

10. My salvation. I can't imagine my life without it. Jesus, thank you for forgiving me of my sins and for making me Yours!

So, there's a start of the things I'm thankful for. I'm gonna try to get on each day til Thursday and share more that I'm thankful for. Even if you can't blog about it, make a list and tell the ones you love that you're thankful for them! Y'all have a good week!

Weekend Worship

LOVE this song! Sing along!!

Need your help again.....

Hey everyone. I've got a rather sensitive topic that I need some help with in teaching my 9th grade girls. I'd really rather not discuss it on the blog so if you're willing to give me some input please leave a comment and if I don't already have your email address (or if I haven't emailed you directly) then I'll let you know what I'm looking for and we'll communicate via email. Thanks for your help!!
V

My how the time flies......

The baby girl is growing WAYYYY too fast! We've had some loose teeth but she's been too scared to pull them out until.......

she finally let Daddy slide them out last night! She lost 2 at the same time. Her new teeth have already broken thru and you can kinda see them. Anyway, I just can't believe how my baby is growing up! Makes me sad!

Still praisin........

I just wanted to pop on today to give a big ole' shout out to Jesus!! I'm still floating since my babies asked Him in their hearts and I tell you, it's been DIFFERENT in my house this week. Don't get me wrong, their still 11, 9 and 6 but the battles are shorter and not nearly as vicious. There were times before where I could just see pure-T evil on their faces during a fight and now, I don't know, it's changed! THANK YOU JESUS! Amazing!

I also wanted to ask you to be in prayer for my family and I. There are some big things that my even BIGGER God is doing in us, things that are gonna shove me right out of my comfort zone, and I know the enemy is already sniffin' around to see how he can mess things up so just pray that we'll remain faithful and stay the course! Thanks!!! Y'all have a fantabulous weekend! I'm going to!!!

Thanks.....

Today is Veteran's day and I just wanted to pop on quickly to say that I'm so grateful to all those who have and who are serving our country!! It has always blown me away to think that men (some still boys) would put their lives on the line for MY sake. Growing up in church and hearing about how Jesus gave up His life for me has always been such a difficult thing to wrap my mind around but almost as equally has been the fact that men and women are willing to put themselves in harms way for strangers...for me...for you. So, this day I say THANK YOU! As though that were enough, but for now, it's the best I can do besides praying for your continued safety!

I also want to personally thank God for my PawPaw Woody who served on the USS Ommaney Bay in WWII which sunk after taking on enemy fire and my Grandfather floated in the Pacific for 3 days before being rescued. AMAZING! Thank you Father for protecting him so that I could know and love him!! Here's a pic of my PawPaw on my wedding day! Ain't he so cute?! teeheeI also want to thank my brother Jeff for his service during Desert Storm. My uncle Bob for the many years he dedicated to the Air Force and then worked as a civilian with the armed forces after retiring. My uncle Paul for serving in the Army during the Vietnam war. My nephew Derrick for serving in the Marine Corp and for doing a tour in Afghanistan. Father God, thank you for a family who is proud of this country and willing to put themselves in the way of harm for the sake of others. Thank you for protecting these amazing men in my life and I pray that you will bless them this day!! I love them all and thank you for putting me in their family!!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE VETS OUT THERE!! YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!!!

B I G N E W S!!!!!!!!!!

Ok wow, I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude right now I can hardly speak! (or type - haha) This weekend was very busy and isn't over just yet. Friday and Saturday we had the National Apologetics Conf. at our church and my man had to play (and I had to be the groupie! haha). We were blessed to get to hear men like Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, Lee Stroebel and James Dobson - to name a few. Then last night and again this morning Josh McDowell did his "Face to Face" and "True Love Waits" seminar for our church - GOOD stuff! Wow - does anyone have a chastity belt? Surely we can get them online? teeheee

So, like I said, busy. Then in a few hours my man and I are getting on a church bus - yes I said bus - and going to Greensboro to sing/play at the NC Southern Baptist Conv. this evening. UGH. Actually, I'm looking forward to it - not the ride - but the singing part. So, are you wondering what this has to do with BIG NEWS? Well, I'm getting to that.

Josh McDowell did his "Face to Face" message at our church last night (I have to tell you that I every time I type church it turns out chruch and I have to keep going back and fixing it - LOL) and since it's not a message appropriate for kids they had a little "children's church" down in the gym. Now to hear it told, it was GREAT fun. Music, dancing, ventriloquist/magician, FUN! Well, the ventriloquist ends up presenting the gospel and over 30 - yes I said 30 - kids prayed to receive Christ last night. These were 1st - 5th graders!!! YAY!!!! Big news, right? Well, it gets even better!! 2 of those kids were MINE!!!!!!!!!! YAY GOD!!!!! Josh and Kayley both accepted Christ!!! They both have been right on the border - especially Josh - asking all the right questions, etc but last night was their night! The cool thing for me was that they weren't together either so it's not like she was just following big brother!! YAY!!! Be still my Momma heart!!!
So, I gotta run, but just wanted to give a big ole' shout out to my Jesus for whispering to my babies and calling them home!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Y'all have a good one. Gotta go get ready for the bus! hahaha Love to ya!

PS Had to pop on and tell you my spellchecker is lit up like a Christmas tree with all these YAY's!!!! LOL!!! Made me laugh!!!

Weekend Worship

I've missed posting some awesome praise music over the last few months so here ya go.....LOVE this song!! Hope you enjoy it and can realize anew how the Lord loves you and be AMAZED......

God is.......

Funny that I had several titles initially. God is still on the Throne. God is still in control. But each time I kept coming back to "God is' and it's enough! He is enough! My hope is not in ANY candidate. My hope is in God ALONE! He is....

I'm dreading turning on the TV this morning. In fact, I've only had it on long enough to get the temperature and back off it went. I think it'll stay off today and I'll just have some praise music on.

I got a phone call from my man asking me to pray for him today because he's got some VERY strong personalities at his new job who are quite vocal about their stance during this election and this morning it was at a fever pitch. Almost becoming aggressive. One guy even said something about Christians being nothing more than stupid people who are brainwashed by our parents. Funny thing is, Jimmy doesn't share his parent's beliefs so this guy couldn't be more wrong! Anyway, THIS is what makes me dread the news. No matter who would've won, THIS is the position we are in as a country. We're really not all that free. If Jimmy takes a stand and speaks his mind in his workplace he will not only be verbally (maybe even physically) abused by co-workers, but his employer has come into the room during such conversations and told them to drop it - thus silencing our right to free speech. OK, I really need to just stop it! I'm just prayin' for my man to make it thru THIS day, then I'll pray for tomorrow and the days to follow. (all this happened before 7:30 people!)

So then I come home, open my "God Calling" and immediately called Jimmy back. I had told him when we were talking earlier that this may be the PERFECT opportunity for him to really be a witness to this guy who obviously has had some serious problems with someone claiming to be a Christian in his life. Jimmy knew this, but then God sent a "follow-up" confirmation. Listen to this...."If each lived for Me, by Me, in Me, allowing Me to live in him, to use him to express the Divine through him, as I expressed it when on earth, then long ago the world would have been drawn to Me, and I should have come to claim My own. So seek, My children, to live, knowing no other desire but to express Me, and to show My Love to your world." WOW! This is my prayer, not just for Jimmy and for myself, but for each of us as the coming days are going to be filled with potential moments to shine for Jesus!!!

GO SHINE!!!

A Big Day....

Jennifer got me thinking today so I thought I'd post some encouragement from the Word for today as well!

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield it's harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him."
Ps 67

Just when you think they're not listening.....

Have you ever had one of those moments when you're just certain that your kids are not paying one TINY bit of attention to ANYTHING that's happening at church? I mean, their actions are a bit more like a pack of wild dogs than humans, much less church-goin' humans! I mean, for real!
Well, I was having one of those days last week. My kids were being - well, we'll just say a challenge - and I, in frustration, said "God, I know they are in the same church as me, hearing what I'm hearing but I guess they have you TOTALLY tuned out". And in His loving-kindness He gave me a little hug of reassurance at dinner. We sat down to eat and I was so frustrated I lifted my fork for the first bite without a blessing being said. My 6 yr old goes "Uh, excuse me mom" (little side note here, that was not said in a sweet mannerly voice, but a tad with the teenage attitudy one) "You're getting ready to eat before the blessing". I go, "Fine, you say it". So she bows her head, lifts a sweet little prayer of thanksgiving for her family and friends, her home, her dog, and finally her food and then closes the prayer with "And church if you agree with this prayer say Amen"!!!!!!!! I about fell off my chair!!!!! In fact, I'm crackin up again just tellin' you! Doesn't God just make you smile?! LOVE it!