Well, our weekend was slow, with yucky weather and a sick child. All of which are not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. Christina was sick with a fever, apparently some kind of viral thing. She had a horrible headache Sat afternoon which worried me. Of course a few hours later and she spikes a fever. Go figure. So, she and I spent Sunday and today at home. Man, I hated missing church too. She is all better now. Running around like a crazy person tonight. I'm thinking she has cabin fever. I don't blame her, I do too. Even though we got out today. I took her to get a strep test done. It still cracks me up that the military doesn't have a quick strep test, you have to wait a week. Although, I guess in their eyes it's a waste of money since you'll have to do the week long culture to double check anyway. *shrugs* What do I know anyway, right?? ha ha We're assuming it will be negative since she hasn't shown any symptoms. I just can't wait until our new PCM sees her tonsils! I loved watching the residents at Lackland. They always cracked me up. I started out warning them, the it became a game to see what kind of reaction they would have to seeing how huge they actually are. :) I know I'm bad right???? I can't help it, it's that medical professional sense of humor. We're just twisted.
So, we spent the weekend watching it rain and watching movies and playing games. Christina bought a Mancala game with some of her Christmas/Birthday money. It is actually quite addicting!
it's just another manic Monday! :)
Have a good week all!!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
another year older
Wow, I can't believe I really am another year older. Almost half way through my 40's. What happened??? Where did the time go? My first overseas birthday even! :) Keith and the kids got me cards and a new purse. I got over 100 happy birthday wishes on facebook! How crazy it is that???? I am so blessed to have so many friends from all over. Crazy thing is, we really haven't lived that many places yet!!
We spent the long Presidents Day weekend hanging out and ended up taking the kids to Round 1, which was a blast!! It was so much nicer when there weren't a lot of people there, like on a Sat.
I am pretty impressed at the work we got done at the church too!! I am enjoying getting to know my new friends.
Speaking of, I have some of them coming over tomorrow and my house is a wreck plus I need to go buy something to cook for brunch.
Have a great short week!
We spent the long Presidents Day weekend hanging out and ended up taking the kids to Round 1, which was a blast!! It was so much nicer when there weren't a lot of people there, like on a Sat.
I am pretty impressed at the work we got done at the church too!! I am enjoying getting to know my new friends.
Speaking of, I have some of them coming over tomorrow and my house is a wreck plus I need to go buy something to cook for brunch.
Have a great short week!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
what to write???
I am falling behind on blogging again! Ha ha!
We spent all weekend celebrating Christina's birthday. She had such a wonderful time with her friends who came over to sleep over Friday night. It worked out great since there were four of them. Most of you know how girl dynamics work. They had a blast. I watched the most creative, complicated, random, game of charades I think I have ever seen in my entire life. I guess it was a pretty good testament to how smart and creative these grils really are. :)
I got brave this year, and finally made cupcakes for Christina's class. It was nice to only have to make a dozen and a half. I still can't get over that she has less than 20 kids in her class. Then I made her a cookie cake, per her request for her party. I am happy to say it turned out much better than I had expected it to. :) Jacob had to write a directional paper for language arts. She had them look up recipes and write them, then they got to make it all and eat it Friday. That was kind of fun. He'll make some girl a good hubby someday :)
We took Christina to Chili's for her birthday dinner, and they brought her ice cream, actually a milk shake and sang to her. She was so surprised!! :) I was trying to be sneaky about it, of course.
We had a great service this morning at church. We have a MAPS team is here, and they are doing a super job on our renovations!!
Well, I guess that sums up the weekend. I'm thinking I will make some tortilla soup tonight for supper. :) I have been craving it for weeks!
Have a great week everyone!
We spent all weekend celebrating Christina's birthday. She had such a wonderful time with her friends who came over to sleep over Friday night. It worked out great since there were four of them. Most of you know how girl dynamics work. They had a blast. I watched the most creative, complicated, random, game of charades I think I have ever seen in my entire life. I guess it was a pretty good testament to how smart and creative these grils really are. :)
I got brave this year, and finally made cupcakes for Christina's class. It was nice to only have to make a dozen and a half. I still can't get over that she has less than 20 kids in her class. Then I made her a cookie cake, per her request for her party. I am happy to say it turned out much better than I had expected it to. :) Jacob had to write a directional paper for language arts. She had them look up recipes and write them, then they got to make it all and eat it Friday. That was kind of fun. He'll make some girl a good hubby someday :)
We took Christina to Chili's for her birthday dinner, and they brought her ice cream, actually a milk shake and sang to her. She was so surprised!! :) I was trying to be sneaky about it, of course.
We had a great service this morning at church. We have a MAPS team is here, and they are doing a super job on our renovations!!
Well, I guess that sums up the weekend. I'm thinking I will make some tortilla soup tonight for supper. :) I have been craving it for weeks!
Have a great week everyone!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
this morning's devotional
Wow, I am so behind on my reading, but enjoying Joyce Meyers' Bible study so much. This one is very profound and very true for today.
I have always heard my Mother say this and as I have grown older and hopefully a little wiser into my *cough* 40's, I have adopted the same philosophy. God will help those who help themselves. I get so annoyed with people, and I know I shouldn't, when I hear them talk about their troubles and I don't see them doing an single thing to get up, and do SOMETHING to help themselves. I'm not saying God can't work a miracle in an instant to provide for a need. I am just saying that sometimes we need to take some steps toward what God wants us to do to achieve what we need. He will meet us somewhere along the line to provide for us. Anyway, I digress, but enjoy this word for the day. :)
As Joyce writes, we need to be encouraged to help others. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to minister to some of these young girls here. I have known that even though some of what I've been through is painful and embarrassing. It would come to be used for good at some point in my life! :) Thank you Lord for our trials!
2 Corinthians 8:5 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives.
God Works Through People
One morning I was having my quiet time alone with God, and I said to the Lord, "God, how can You stand seeing all the pain, starving children, human trafficking, genocide, injustice, degradation, poverty, in the world and not do something?"
I didn't say it as a complaint or because I was questioning His integrity, and I don't even know that I was really expecting to get an answer, but I just asked Him. Immediately His answer came back: "I work through people. I'm waiting for My people to arise and do something."
You and I are part of an army, the body of Christ, and it's going to take everyone doing their part to change this world. God wants to work through us, and He's calling us to put on love and get to work.
In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul talked about how the churches in Macedonia gave, saying, "But first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His agents] by the will of God [entirely disregarding their personal interests, they gave as much as they possibly could, having put themselves at our disposal to be directed by the will of God]."
That just amazes me, because they didn't just give their money, they gave themselves. God's calling us to live the same way. And one person working for the Lord has the ability to make a profound difference! So how will you give yourself to the Lord and be His agent today?
Prayer Starter: God, I invite You to work through me. I choose to lay down selfishness and pick up love so that I can be used by You to change the world.
I have always heard my Mother say this and as I have grown older and hopefully a little wiser into my *cough* 40's, I have adopted the same philosophy. God will help those who help themselves. I get so annoyed with people, and I know I shouldn't, when I hear them talk about their troubles and I don't see them doing an single thing to get up, and do SOMETHING to help themselves. I'm not saying God can't work a miracle in an instant to provide for a need. I am just saying that sometimes we need to take some steps toward what God wants us to do to achieve what we need. He will meet us somewhere along the line to provide for us. Anyway, I digress, but enjoy this word for the day. :)
As Joyce writes, we need to be encouraged to help others. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to minister to some of these young girls here. I have known that even though some of what I've been through is painful and embarrassing. It would come to be used for good at some point in my life! :) Thank you Lord for our trials!
Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life - a Daily Devotional
2 Corinthians 8:5 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives.
God Works Through People
One morning I was having my quiet time alone with God, and I said to the Lord, "God, how can You stand seeing all the pain, starving children, human trafficking, genocide, injustice, degradation, poverty, in the world and not do something?"
I didn't say it as a complaint or because I was questioning His integrity, and I don't even know that I was really expecting to get an answer, but I just asked Him. Immediately His answer came back: "I work through people. I'm waiting for My people to arise and do something."
You and I are part of an army, the body of Christ, and it's going to take everyone doing their part to change this world. God wants to work through us, and He's calling us to put on love and get to work.
In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul talked about how the churches in Macedonia gave, saying, "But first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His agents] by the will of God [entirely disregarding their personal interests, they gave as much as they possibly could, having put themselves at our disposal to be directed by the will of God]."
That just amazes me, because they didn't just give their money, they gave themselves. God's calling us to live the same way. And one person working for the Lord has the ability to make a profound difference! So how will you give yourself to the Lord and be His agent today?
Prayer Starter: God, I invite You to work through me. I choose to lay down selfishness and pick up love so that I can be used by You to change the world.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Owing and Spending
I started writing this about a year ago, and never published it. Well, as God would have it, the same thought entered my mind as I was working on my tax return for 2011 tonight. As I was loading the dishwasher I was reflecting on how we struggled financially in 2009 and 2010, but how amazingly God blessed us through that struggle. I didn't completely grasp the magnitude of what He did until well after.
As most of you know, when we embarked on our journey as a military family we had to leave a house, unsold behind in Tennessee. It took us 2 years to sell it and that was working long distance from Texas. I am very thankful, even more so now that we were just two states away instead of a continent or two and an ocean away. God blessed us right before Christmas of 2010 with the sale of our home. It was a short sale, but it all worked out that because it wasn't a huge hit for the bank, the remainder of our loan was forgiven and I later found out that somehow the city and county property taxes were paid at some point during the transaction. (and not by us) I think I cried for two days straight after I called the county tax assessor's office to see about doing a payment plan and was informed that we didn't owe anything. In order to help pay down our debt, I had begun to work as a substitute teacher(not my thing) at the kids' school. In the beginning of 2011 I decided to get licensed to practice dental hygiene again in TX so I could do some fill in work around town. After a TON of paperwork and a couple of continuing education classes, I was able to get licensed. It worked out great, we had amazing friends who helped me with the kids after school if I was running behind and Keith wasn't home yet from day shift.
So, here is what I had written at the beginning of last year.
I've been trying to pray for guidance and direction in my quest to rejoin the work force and how to start digging out of this pile of debt. I haven't been doing very well with the praying part, I might add. As I was reluctantly thinking about digging out the Dave Ramsey books and working on a budget, FINALLY. God gently changes my focus as He often does. I took time to entertain the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head and put them to paper since they haven't wanted to go away in weeks!
Owing someone at some point in time is inevitable, just like being an American citizen and paying taxes. The question is ... how do we view the money? Yes, it is God given, but do we always honor that? I know I don't!! The same with spending. We have to spend money, just to manage our every day lives, food, clothes, etc. On that same note, think about time as well. I get so irritated with myself for NOT using my time wisely and being such a procrastinator!
I am so grateful that in 2011 God did bless my efforts to start practicing again and did bless us financially. Sadly, I still need help on the time management, and I still haven't done a budget, but I am making progress. God is so faithful.
As most of you know, when we embarked on our journey as a military family we had to leave a house, unsold behind in Tennessee. It took us 2 years to sell it and that was working long distance from Texas. I am very thankful, even more so now that we were just two states away instead of a continent or two and an ocean away. God blessed us right before Christmas of 2010 with the sale of our home. It was a short sale, but it all worked out that because it wasn't a huge hit for the bank, the remainder of our loan was forgiven and I later found out that somehow the city and county property taxes were paid at some point during the transaction. (and not by us) I think I cried for two days straight after I called the county tax assessor's office to see about doing a payment plan and was informed that we didn't owe anything. In order to help pay down our debt, I had begun to work as a substitute teacher(not my thing) at the kids' school. In the beginning of 2011 I decided to get licensed to practice dental hygiene again in TX so I could do some fill in work around town. After a TON of paperwork and a couple of continuing education classes, I was able to get licensed. It worked out great, we had amazing friends who helped me with the kids after school if I was running behind and Keith wasn't home yet from day shift.
So, here is what I had written at the beginning of last year.
I've been trying to pray for guidance and direction in my quest to rejoin the work force and how to start digging out of this pile of debt. I haven't been doing very well with the praying part, I might add. As I was reluctantly thinking about digging out the Dave Ramsey books and working on a budget, FINALLY. God gently changes my focus as He often does. I took time to entertain the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head and put them to paper since they haven't wanted to go away in weeks!
Owing someone at some point in time is inevitable, just like being an American citizen and paying taxes. The question is ... how do we view the money? Yes, it is God given, but do we always honor that? I know I don't!! The same with spending. We have to spend money, just to manage our every day lives, food, clothes, etc. On that same note, think about time as well. I get so irritated with myself for NOT using my time wisely and being such a procrastinator!
I am so grateful that in 2011 God did bless my efforts to start practicing again and did bless us financially. Sadly, I still need help on the time management, and I still haven't done a budget, but I am making progress. God is so faithful.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
today's devotional!
I am reading Joyce Meyer's Promises for Everyday Life Daily Devotionals
Today's focused on living an life for Christ with boundaries. OUCH, as some of you know, I have dealt with that a lot throughout my life. I have also heard Pastor Wes preach on this recently.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
Amen!
Today's focused on living an life for Christ with boundaries. OUCH, as some of you know, I have dealt with that a lot throughout my life. I have also heard Pastor Wes preach on this recently.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
Boundaries Have a Purpose!
"Exercising self-control and self-discipline, and establishing boundaries and borders in our life are some of the most important things we can do. A life that has no discipline is one that's filled with carelessness.
The Word of God establishes the necessary boundaries to keep us in God's safety zone. It tells us what we can do, and what we better not do, to be safe.
As Christians we can think it's kind of exciting to live life on the edge. We like the image of "Yeah! That's me! Living on the edge!" It's become a popular way of looking at life. But to be honest, God doesn't want us living on the edge, because if we're living on the edge, then we have no margin for error.
Highways have lines, one on each side and one in the center. These lines provide margins for our safety while we're driving. If we go over the line on one side, we'll go into the ditch. If we cross over the line in the middle, we could get killed. We like those lines because they help keep us safe.
It's like that in our personal lives, too. When we have boundaries, borders, and margins, we feel much better and experience God's peace.
The key is to go to God's Word, where He has laid out all the boundaries we need to live by. Let God direct your path every day.
Prayer Starter: God, I recognize the need for boundaries in my life. As I read Your Word, show me how to apply Your healthy boundaries in my life today."
Friday, January 20, 2012
Belated New Years Blessings(more like celebrations)
God really does care about the little things in our lives, even as much as he cares about the big things.
We ladies had a wonderful time in the Lord last night! Wow! We as a group were able to claim victory over our lives and celebrate that together.
Personally, God fixed something in me that has been broken for a long time. Last night I was able to get the best night's sleep that I have had in probably 5 months or so. It was so wonderful to be able to rest in God's peace. However, the side effect is that I can't stop crying!!! LOL It's ok though. I have spent the last 6 months trying to suppress my emotions to keep up the "happy" front up. I have become so robotic in going about my life lately, that I had suppressed so much of what I was actually feeling. All the while justifying it in my head for the good of the family. When I woke up this morning, it just hit all at once, but I LOVE being broken and open before the Lord. It may not be pretty, but it allows Him to come in and tweak those parts of your heart that need tweaking and heal those wounds that need to be healed! Now, hopefully, I can keep myself out of the way long enough to see what God is going to do or is doing in my life this year.
We ladies had a wonderful time in the Lord last night! Wow! We as a group were able to claim victory over our lives and celebrate that together.
Personally, God fixed something in me that has been broken for a long time. Last night I was able to get the best night's sleep that I have had in probably 5 months or so. It was so wonderful to be able to rest in God's peace. However, the side effect is that I can't stop crying!!! LOL It's ok though. I have spent the last 6 months trying to suppress my emotions to keep up the "happy" front up. I have become so robotic in going about my life lately, that I had suppressed so much of what I was actually feeling. All the while justifying it in my head for the good of the family. When I woke up this morning, it just hit all at once, but I LOVE being broken and open before the Lord. It may not be pretty, but it allows Him to come in and tweak those parts of your heart that need tweaking and heal those wounds that need to be healed! Now, hopefully, I can keep myself out of the way long enough to see what God is going to do or is doing in my life this year.
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