I am an avid reader. I read A LOT and usually stuff that is somehow going to turn on the light and make me finally believe in myself. Currently I am reading 3 books... that doesn't include my Bible or the many blogs I read, or facebook because Lord knows I spend way to much time on facebook. Currrently I am reading Captivating by John & Staci Eldredge, When Your World Falls Apart by David Jeremiah and Reading the Women of the Bible by Tikva Frymer-Kensky. I wouldn't say that any of it is fluff... but the Jewish writing is more challenging. I find it fascinating.
I have just had some really tough questions for God lately. The treatment of women in the Bible and modern society. How we were the last creation God made and yet treated like livestock (pack mules)? How come we as women are striving so hard to be like men? What do men value most, what do women value most? What exactly is a help meet and is that even a good translation of the Hebrew text? What did God design marriage to be? What is my real role as a wife... and mother? At what point did polygamy become acceptable and what if any effects did it have on the women? Yeah, so some worry about what's for dinner these are the thoughts that plague me and keep me awake at night.
"It is not under the sharpest, but the longest trials, that we are most in danger of fainting." -Andrew Fuller
I can either throw my hands up in defeat... (yeah I spent some real time contemplating that yesterday) or I can read and encourage myself. David encouraged himself in the Lord. "David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God." (1 Samuel 30:6 AMP) David looked around and all of his men were wanting to stone him, His wife had been taken, he had no one else to encourage him so he encouraged himself.
So as I sit here in this hellaciously long winter, looking forward to spring I chose to read what moves me. I decide to find others who have hung out in the cave, been sold down the river and left for dead. I decide that I might die here but I will chose to encourage myself. There is some song on my mp3 player and I would have to dig it out of my gym bag to tell you the name of the song but it says it's hard to kill a dead man. So I submit to the death of Christ. I submit to dying to self because once your are dead you can't be killed again. So here in the last few days of the season of death I am going to give it up. As an act of my free will I chose to encourage myself and to sing praises to the Lord that there is a an end to winter, Aslan is on the move and despite Narnia has been in winter for 100 years He is going to bring spring and melt away the coldness.
Lord, thank you for seeds of hope. For seasons of frost and for seasons of rain. Thank you for the love and understanding of the people that live with me as they watch my process this out loud. Thank you for the comfort of his arms and a wet shirt right where my face lies. Thank you for the completion of the circle and for giving us what we need to get to you. I know I am your favorite... I love being your little girl. Thank you for dancing with me.
Once a Florida girl, always a Florida girl. My skin is longing for a spring sunburn and my nose is itching for the smell of salt air. February... good grief for only having 28 days in it is the longest month of the year. I have a friend in TX posting pictures of her kids in shorts, another one that spent 2 weeks in south FL with sun on her cheeks and flip flops & shorts. I love the mountains but about this time of year I get a hankering for sun, sand and live music.
When I was a teenager there was a corner of my parents house that I could lay out in and it would block the wind and I could literally start laying out Valentine's Day weekend. It was in the teens here that weekend.
February makes me long for Led Zeppelin, for the dark right before dawn. My soul starts to writhe in anticipation of flowers blooming. It makes me wonder what the meaning of life is... it's just the stillness of February that leaves me pondering my youth... and looking forward to the future at the same time. Knowing that the frosts are almost over and everything will start greening out. It's the death right before the resurrection.
Three more days... Three more days... Three more days!
Have you ever thought if it, that all that concerns you, concerns Me, too? for "he that touches you, touches the apple of His eye. (Zechariah 2:8)
I would have you to learn, when temptations assail you, and the "enemy comes in like a flood," that this thing is from Me; that your weakness needs My might, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you.
You are very "precious in My sight" (Isaiah 43:4). Thereforeit is My special delight to educate you.
Are you in money difficulties? Is it hard to make both ends meet? This thing is from Me, for I am your purse-bearer, and would have you draw from and depend upon Me. My supplies are limitless (Philippians 4:19). I would have you prove My promises. Let it not be said of you, "you did not believe the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 1:32).
Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, who never consult your taste, who put you in the background? This thing is from Me. I am the God of circumstances. You came not to this place by accident; it was the very place God meant for you. Have you not asked to be made humble? see, then I have placed you in the very school where this lesson is taught; your surroundings and companions are only working out My will.
Are you passing through a night of sorrow? This thing is from Me. I am the "Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief." I have let earthy comforters fail you, that, by turning to Me, you may obtain everlasting consolation (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
Has someone disappointed you? One to whom you opened out your heart? This thing is from Me. I have allowed this disappointment to come, so that you may learn.
I want to be your Confidant. Has someone repeated things about you that are untrue? Leave them to Me, and draw closer to Me thy shelter out of reach of "the strife of tongues," for I "shall bring forth My righteousness as the light, and My judgement as the noonday" (Psalm 37:6)
Have your plans been upset? Are you bowed down and weary? This thing is from Me. You made your plans, then came asking Me to bless them; but I would have you let Me plan for you, and then I take the responsibility; for "this thing is too much for you, you are not able to perform it by yourself" (Exodus 18:18). You are only an instrument not an agent.
Have you longed to do some great work for Me, and instead been laid aside on a bed of pain and weakness? This thing is from Me. I could not get your attention in your busy days, and I want to teach you some of My deepest lessons. "They also serve who only stand and wait". Some of My greatest workers are those shut out from actice service, that they may learn to wield the weapon of prayer.
Are you suddenly called upon to occupy a difficult and responsible position? Launch out on Me. I am trusting you with the possession of difficulties. "For this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put in your hand" (Deuteronomy 15:10).
This day I place in your hands this pot of holy oil; make use of it freely, My child. Let every circumstance as it arises, every word that pains you, every interruption that would make you impatient, every revelation of your own weakness, be anointed with it. Remember, interruptions are divine instructions. The sting will go as you learn to see Me in all things.
Therefore "set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today...for it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land" (Deuteronomy 32:46-47).
~Laura A. Barter Snow (Grand Rapids: Faith, Prayer and Tract League)
This one is super simple and can probably be done with what you already have in your fridge.
I sauteed 1 medium onion in 3 tbsp of butter just until tender then I added 2 cups of diced ham, 1 cup of sliced mushrooms and a large handful of fresh spinach that I rough chopped.
Meanwhile I whipped together 10 eggs and 1/4 cup of half and half. Pour eggs over meat & veggies and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. I topped it with 1/2 cup of shredded mozzerella and a 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar.
Next time the kids and Ande want provolone cheese, grilled chicken, spinach and artichokes but that one will take a little more planning on my part.
Enchiladas
So we have been doing low carbs for a while... this was something that I sort of threw together tonight. You can buy Ola tortillas at our local grocery and they actually had them on sale 2/5.00 but look for the low carb variety.... the flavor ones are great for wraps but I think in this application it would have been over kill.
In a large skillet I browned 2 pounds of hamburger with half of one really good sized sweet onion. After it was browned I added 1 heaping tsp on cumin seed, 1 tsp sea salt, and a good heavy sprinkling of black pepper. I then stirred in 1 large can of Rotella and half of a large block of Velvetta cheese.
I filled the tortilla shells with the mixture. I made 13 out of the mixture but you could have more or less depending on how much you use. I spooned some enchilada sauce over the top of them in the pan then sprinkled with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
I served them with sauteed onions and a pepper medley. Just tossed them in some olive oil and butter with a little sea salt and pepper.
All combined you are looking at 9 carbs for the entire meal. Plus 1 if you add a teaspoon of sour cream... like I did.
that keeps me from moving on is myself. I battle the thoughts in my head. I get so wrapped up in this one thing that it keeps me befuddled and incapable of motion and that just makes me so mad. But it seems to plague me. Everytime I am ready to move on... it comes back. I wake up thinking about it, I go to sleep thinking about it and I am sick of it. Really truly sick of it.
I have started to read "When Your World Falls Apart", by David Jeremiah. It's the whole God is taking this through the refiners fire. I so have heard that a thousand times and I know it to be true... but dadgum this has been a long season. Dr. Jeremiah quotes Warren Wiersbe as saying, "When God permits His children to go through the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. His loving heart knows how much and how long." Oh how I want to believe that. Oh how I hope that the picture of that is something that I can grab a hold of.
I am tired, really tired. Exhausted really from this whole ordeal. I feel like I am holding on by the skin of my teeth. There are times that I can forget about the pain but then it takes me by surprise like it's just been waiting for me to show back up. My faith is wavering... I started having this whole theological conversation - with myself mind you - about God, and how women are treated in the Bible and if Jesus really came for all of us. I wonder what Sarah felt when Abraham twice pawned her off as his sister, or how Bathsheba felt the first night that David called someone else other than her to his chambers. I wonder the disappointment that Eve felt when Adam didn't stand up for her or say a word to the snake despite the fact that he was with her...or her shame when he didn't defend her when God showed up. We often hear about the stories but very little about the pain in their hearts.
I love God, I am thankful for Jesus and I long for the comfort that only the Holy Spirit can provide. I am doing what I know to do to put one foot in front of the other... I attempt to worship more than I whine. I just feel so alone in this. There is nothing anyone can do. Every door has been shut, every face has turned away. Everyone commends but no comfort comes. No relief, no respite. I know that God is here... I just can't feel Him, or see Him...
Sitting with Ande in a beautiful cabin after a wonderful day riding through the Park. We did the driving tour of Cades Cove... and just piddled our way over. I enjoy riding and just watching God's water colors ... the river cutting through the rock and following us along the way. The rocks and the falls... the color of the sky from 9 am this morning when we left til now...We have a grand view of the Park from our deck.
We stopped at the Farm Museum coming into the Park from Cherokee... Just as we pulled into the park we saw the Elks. I don't know that I have seen anything so beautiful and peaceful. They are pretty tame and allowed us to walk right up to them. There was one male with a huge rack! It was with 7-8 females.
But mostly we spent the day just being together... with a picnic lunch in the cove on blankets. Now I want you to know that we planned ahead for our picnic... we bought Subway last night to bring with us! It's a vacation after all. Tonight for dinner I am going to grill some chicken and make some wraps. Just something simple and light after a long day riding in the car.
Adam and Julia are in the hot tub on the deck and my eyes are so heavy I can't keep them open. I guess I need to get up and start making dinner so that I can climb into the hot tub when it finally comes to temperature. What a good Sunday night... this is probably the first Sunday night that I have looked forward to Monday that I can remember. Ever.
But it's been bittersweet. God knows the desires of my heart and the things I need to give up when even I can't see it for myself. There was so much that I was still holding on to. Closure that I was looking for... a hail mary pass to save me. But it didn't happen and I just laid it all down. It's not that I have lost... I have gotten what I have wanted, I just had to let everything else go first. I had allowed others to put shame on me... I had tried to get it all right to create a place. A place that didn't exsist except in my own head.
I take a few friends with me, the ones that are invested. I have decided I am not a spectator sport... so if you are just wanting to watch through the window and not interact you might find your self trying to look through the blinds. So many eyes watching - they read enough to get offended but don't care enough to do anything about it. I see a barn door shutting and latching. Move along, there is nothing to see here. Unless you love, unless you are willing to invest... Your lack of action speaks volumes.
Today is a day of love... and God has filled myheart. He has filled the sky with sunshine and my house with flowers. He has provided a few days repreave from the demands of the transition. He has let me take of my mourning clothes and is allowing me to dance a reel with my kids and my wonderful husband. He has shown Himself true to His word and has allowed my heart to beat... and my lungs to breathe, and my feet to dance.
O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. ~ Saint Augustine
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Lord, I love you. I don't always get it right, but only you know my heart... only you know my thoughts and my desires. Thank you for always bringing them to to fruition even as you do a work in me. Lord, I trust you with my future, with my children, my marriage. They all belong to you and I praise you in advance of the breakthrough... and say... Holy Holy Holy is He!
Today was one of those days where I can never seem to catch my breath. I am not a clean house obsessed woman. My house typically had enough dog hair in the corners to stuff a king sized blanket... it's just not my thing. I clean when I am mad. If you walk into my house and find me cleaning... it's usually a good idea to turn right around and head in the opposite direction. Today for instance my children did their chores and then ever so politely asked to go outside due to the beautiful weather... they don't fool me. They knew I was on a rampage and they had two options, either run outside or grab a mop.
But this evening I am sitting here in my clean house and am full of wings. I opted out of the gym tonight... although they are open til 9 and I still might change by mind. I cleaned out my dresser... and filled a yard bag full of clothes that I don't love... including every pair of pantyhose and tights I own. I don't wear them why do I have to keep them? I threw away a bunch of really worn out bras and a ton of panties that had seen better days. I condensed my pj's down to one drawer. I usually maintain 3 drawers of pjs but the new me needed one of those drawers for work out clothes... and I filled a whole drawer just full of camisoles. I broke down when I found my Pappy's flannel pjs. They were at the back of my drawer... I pulled them out and held them to my chest and I swear I could smell him. There are days that I wish that I could just call him and talk to him... he always could comfort me and make me feel safe.
Today is one of those days that I find myself crying for no reason other than the sun is shining. I know it has nothing really to do with the events of the day but it's my heart feeling the pain that I have blocked out for so long. I hate to cry... I hate the vulnerability of crying. So a day of crying I find exhausting. I try to hold it in when I am around people. This afternoon I couldn't stand it anymore and rode over and parked at the lake. I just had to let some pressure off. I find when I cry like that here at home it either starts a fight or everyone feels like they have to make it all better for me. They want to take responsibility for it and it has nothing to do with them... or usually anything that they suggest it is.
There are some hurts that we just don't share. Some thoughts we don't discuss. They are just ours alone... to share with God and no one else. Today was one of those days. When I had to pour it out on the throne. Where he had to wrap me up and hold me... because I wasn't going to make it. This is a season of my life where I can't be comforted by others. Not my friends, my husband, my kids... any of my old crutches. I have no option but to find a quiet place and just pour out my heart to God. He is the only comfort I can find. I was told today that there are many that want to comfort me through this time but God won't let them. God is doing this one on one... me and him. So I know that my blogs seem so random to some but it's just a dance that I do with God as my partner and Jesus as the lover of my soul. The relationship is intimate and sometimes he allows me to share and others doesn't.
I have been reading about strongholds... he told me to put the book down. I keep wanting deliverance... he keeps bringing me back to shame. I am like Lord, can't we work on fear? He is adamant that we are on shame and it feels like we are going to be here forever. Just when I think I have it licked... something else pings and I think I haven't gotten anywhere. He reminds me that in war the land it taken battle by battle and inch by inch. It doesn't mean that there isn't forward movement, or carnage... This is the battle of my life. This is life or death for me. Someone wonderful and wise told me today that God is battling the things that keep me from him. It's not personal... he's not trying to kill me, he is trying to kill the things that keep me from him. He wants to love me fully and until this shame is erradicated...I can only love him in part. I can only love my children, my husband in part.
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
When I can love God fully, I can fully love others without hesitation. If I can trust God, I can begin to trust others. My shame has kept me from trusting others. I would rather throw you out of my boat than to trust you to help me. Now there are some that have wiggled into my trust circle... they have taught me that trust can be a safe place.
Lord, my hands are raised to you. There is nothing else that I can do...I have tried to grab things with my hands and have just come up empty handed. I raise up my arms to you in complete surrender and say I trust you and I love you enough for you to teach me more about trust in love. Father, I trust you, Jesus, I love you, Holy Spirit, I need you.
"Lord, make me as holy as You can make a sinner saved by grace" - Oswald Chambers
The strength of what we believe is measured by how much we are willing to suffer for those beliefs. - commentary of NLT study bible.
I have alluded to the fact that six months ago my life was turned upside down. Everything from my marriage, to my children, our business, our finances, our church, our friends... there was really very little that looks the same today as it did that Sunday evening. I have yelled at everyone, including God... I have blamed everyone, including God... I have cried out for relief. There were nights allI could do was to whisper the name Jesus over and over. In the beginning I chased Christ with both hands open.
Today, today, I have a heart for Christ... I want to search for Him, I know He is here with me... but I am looking for the defibulator dose of his power to restart my heart. There has been so much change that sometimes I know that I have hardened parts of my heart to deal with later. I believe that He and I are coming to those places now. There are some pretty big issues that I think he really wants to take me to another level of healing on. It seems that there are issues that are staring me in the face and I am thinking that we may need to at least explore them.
The one that I see so much in the last few days is abortion. When I was fresh out of high school, not even by months, I got pregnant. I was 18 and confused and asked the people around me for advice. I take complete responsibility for my role, but I did take some advice and had an abortion. Then 18 months later... I had another. It worked the first time. I know that the first one was in September and the second one was in Spring... but that's all I remember. Just now I am realizing the disdain I have for fall, the saddness that usually comes may be tied to this. I am processing some of this out loud.
I could blame the guy, or my accomplices to the hospital. I could blame God for allowing life to form within me... but mostly I blame myself and have lived in shame of this for almost 20 years. There is a comparison, I have always said there is no hierarchy of sin... maybe more to myself than anyone around me. What I have come to understand is that I have murdered for my own benefit. I have shut down a huge part of myself in trying to protect that part of my heart. I have continued to look at myself as trash for those decisions. I changed that fall. I lost total regard for myself. I cried when I got home and I remember thinking that I was never going to get past this. I was alone... no one would understand. Others went on, I alone have carried this burden.
God has been awesome to give me 3 more beautiful children. I have been blessed beyond measure with them. But I know that there is a part of me that isn't all that I can be... there are times that I wonder what those other children looked like... what their hair smelt like... what their little toes would have looked like.
I have strongly believed for a long time, that I was a horrible mother. I have known that I was a murderer, and a manipulator. I have done all that I can to create an illusion of goodness, of worthiness... all for nothing. The strands of shame that started as a child became tree trunks at that time in my life. Without those 2 events I believe that I would be more of a wife, a mother, a daughter. I wouldn't have operated out of shame, and a sense of being less than for all of these years. No one was as bad as me... no one else had murdered... but I had and that isolation is where shame grows...
I have had healing in this area before. I remember once being on my knees at our large church in Florida before I married Ande... and crying out to God. My pastor then sat on the edge of the platform with his feet hanging over and I know that he too was crying as he watched me. God gave me a vision or an understanding that he had those babies, and that one day I would greet them as their mother. It was a balm to the wound. The actual hurt of the event became less and less over time. I looked at my new marriage and my new children as God's reassurance that He still loved me. Albeit it only in part because I had burdened him with these other children. (wow, that's a revelation for me this morning).
I have been crying out to God to show me the roots of my shame and he has been dilligent to do that for me. I know that the deliverance is coming... but I feel like a child following a thread of yarn to a great discovery. There are things along the way that bring on the tears and really break my heart like this morning. I had no intention of talking about this on here. But God said to... he is so good to teach me how to be more Eve like... naked and unashamed in his Garden of Eden... before the snake. He is teaching me to be transparent... to live outloud. He is my healer, and my hero. I do desire to be more Christlike... I desire to walk in the grace that comes in my Father's sacrifice. I am laying down my judgements of myself in an effort to lay down my judgements of others.
I will add that I am prolife with every part of myself now. When I was actually able to hear my own voice... I knew that I had gone against every fiber of my own being in an effort to please others. They may as well have pulled out my backbone as well. But it is fusing back together. My warrior is rising up. I know that she is. This time not only for others, but for the creation of God that is myself.
Thank you Lord, for your love. If you can create life within our bodies, I know that I know that I know that you can heal the hardness of my heart. I cry out to you for these babies and say Lord, here I am use me.
Somehow I am convinced that is how my children will look back at this winter. It's one thing to walk through all of this and only see it through my own eyes but their eyes are also constantly watching to see what is going to come next. The too have been erradicated from our church. They don't know why we aren't there but they know that they haven't walked in the building for 6 months. How does one unwind her children from a fence she was teaching them to climb?
They have listened to us talking to lawyers, dissolving this, moving that... If my heart is weary I have to expect theirs is as well to some extent. They have watching us shut down our company, they have listened to Ande and I argue, they have watched me cry and have heard more in the last six months than in the rest of their lives, "We really can't do that".
We have burned everything that we could to stay warm. From old business checks to scraps of lumber than Ande brought home from a job. We haven't gone hungry, we haven't lost our lights... and for now that is an accomplishment. We have done everything we know to keep our kids comfortable and moving along at a normal pace... Alex my oldest said we have been hibernating... he's such a brilliant child. Yes, hibernating is what we have been doing.
Spring is right around the corner and we are beginning to get joy in our bellies for what is coming next. We know it won't look like it does now... we are open for options... we know it's coming... we just have no idea what it's going to look like. Everything that we have built here is gone and we know it's time to move on. We have looked around and have realized who are our friends... and who just wanted to exploit our talents and our abilities. I am working on my bitterness because even I can read it in my writing.
I am ready to shake the dust off my feet. I am ready to fly and to be free from the bondage of shame by association... of the questions people ask... of the pain in being an outsider.
Oh how I am sick of shame. This past year has been about shame for me over and over and over.
Continuing in my study of strongholds... SHAME plays a huge role. I believe that I have lived in shame every day of my memorable life. I am really trying to seek God's face on the event that really kicked it for me. That really decided that I was bad and there was nothing anyone including God could do about it. I was always going to let everyone down, I was always going to get it wrong.
I can't put my finger on a specific event but there was a time period in my life where I can see the fruits of it. Where a culmination of things happened all at once and changed me. That taught me to put up my defenses. To lie, to self-protect... to mask the true feelings. I was in middle school when I started feeling like an outsider. I was in high school when my shame was so hopeless that I would lie in bed and literally say to God, "If I am still awake at midnight tonight is the night I am going to kill myself." I have dealt with suicidal thoughts for years since then. Still sometimes the thoughts come. I understand them better now, I know what they are trying to do. However, they do come in waves and sometimes it can be overwhelming. I believe that my suicidal thoughts are my ultimate self-preserving act. I can't be hurt and I can't hurt anyone else if I am not here. I kept a packed suitcase in the bottom of my closet for years... always waiting for the opportune time to run.
I made so many mistakes, I did, I still do. I put myself in bad places, I allowed myself to be abused by not standing up for myself. I have had people not believe me about being abused. It's all this huge castle of hiding myself. Of losing my true identity. Of not having healthy boundaries, of being passive and letting others make decision albeit awful ones for me. Of putting on a mask that says I am ok when on the inside I am falling apart, broken and shutting everyone out so that they can't see it. What would people think if they knew the truth. I believe that part of my healing process is here, talking this out, being naked and vulnerable in small spurts, filling in the rest with sarcasm and humor... which are my favorite guards. I am beginning to lay down my shame.
2 Corinthians 4:2, "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
I am beginning to understand this a little bit at a time. What I know, in every part of me is that God loves me. He created me, and he loves me. Getting rid of my shame is going to take action on my own behalf. I am going to have to put some umph into it. It is something that God can deliver me from but only after I stop agreeing with the enemy and start agreeing with God.
“But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.”- Psalm 59:16
I chose God. With every part of myself... I chose God. Do I always get it right? No, if I could I would and then I wouldn't need God. I need a Savior, every day. Everyday. As I cry out to him, He is faithful to come and save me again from myself. I am looking for true deliverance from shame. I know that it is possible and I trust God to not start something and not lead me through until the end.
Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Thank you Lord for loving me enough to not leave me bound by shame.
Ok, I think I finally have my blog the way that I want it... for now!! Thank you Lisa for scouring templates for hours this evening just for me to tweak my own...
So Ande and Alex are camping... Adam is at Grandma's and in my posession and in my care are 2... count them 1...2 nine year old girls. I outlasted them this time. Usually they are the last ones to sleep and the first ones up. Tonight, however they are both snoring and I am stuck here in cyber land playing with blogs, templates & images. Woot Woot!
So Zoe woke me up early this morning with an upset tummy and even now she isn't doing so hot. She had a pretty good tummy all day but just few minutes ago she had some more vomiting. What a lovely thing to get out of bed to clean up at 1, almost 2 am. But she is currently laying right here up against me and I think I hear the beginning of some snoring.
I had some great time with some friends today. Birthday parting like crazy moms... except I should have eaten more cake. One bite just didn't do it and right now I am wondering how big of a comotion I would start if I went back to Dawn's, crawled in her kitchen window and ate the rest of that super delicious train cake that Nanna made. Well, I figure everyone is sleeping so if the deputies come for me there wouldn't be anyone to bail me out. Imagine Ande coming down from camp tomorrow expecting me to come home from church but instead getting a phone call that his wife was in jail for breaking and entering to eat cake. I think this whole no carb thing is going to my brain. Well that and I had too much diet Mt. Dew too close to bed time.
The girls and I did play a few rounds of Rock Band tonight on the Wii. We are awful. Julia and I have neither one got to ever play the guitar because it is alway in use by one of the boys in the house. I get to sing... but only Roxanne, otherwise I am the drummer. Julia likes to sing but what is funny is that she has never heard most of the songs. Well I can't say that I have heard all of them either...but it's just cute. I want them to come out with Country Band...now that is something I could sing along to... like I do in my Excursion (with the diesel running I am assured that no one can hear me).
Oh, for those of you that knew me when I was at coffeestainedcape...(and thought I was an overcaffeinated superhero) all of those posts have been transfered over here as of tonight. So you can search through the archives if you have nothing better to do than watch the dust move in the sunshine. I used to do that when I was a kid. Then I would blow my nose because if all of that stuff is flying around... you know it's going up your nose and wrecking havoc. Maybe I don't have blonde roots, maybe I just have inhaled too many dust particles. Yeah... that's my story.
Okay, Zoe has just sighed at me that it's time to turn the lights out. It's been a fun day... well except the cleaning up the vomit part.
