Thankful Thursday

About 1 1/2 weeks ago, I decided to take part in "Thankful Thursday." I haven't been in the habit of blogging as much as I would like to be, so I thought this would give me a chance to regularly make a post, and help me focus more on the positives in my life, instead of the negatives...and then last Thursday came and went...and I forgot all about posting. Ooops. So, without any further ado, here's my list of what I'm thankful for today...

1. I'm thankful that I got to spend some time with my 22 month-old nephew Ty today. He is the smartest (honestly), most talkative, expressive, funny, kid I've ever met! Did I mention cute? His mom (my sister-in-law) is teaching Summer School in Victoria, and my parent's are helping watch him during the day, so we swung by their house while we were in town earlier this morning. He is a riot! I love him and are very thankful that Mark & Renee are bringing him up in a loving, Christian home.

2. I'm thankful for my hardworking, devoted, loyal, dedicated husband who worked his normal 12-hour shift 14 days/nights in a row so we could have a little more play money on our vacation (starting tomorrow)! He takes his role as being our provider very seriously, and I admire him for that.

3. I'm thankful that my house is somewhat quiet at the moment, when it's been filled with lots of noise today...some good, some not so good. Hey, I've got 3 kids that are natural-born sinners, what can I say? Ha! :)

4. I'm thankful that my (going into) 6th grade daughter still wants me to tuck her into bed each night, and then begs me to lie in bed with her and chit-chat for a few minutes before she falls off to sleep...hopefully this tradition will carry on for many more years to come!

5. I'm thankful that God never quits loving me, no matter what I do or how many times I mess up. Thankfully I can't earn his love, and also therefore can't do anything to lose it either! He is the same yesterday, today and forever!

Well, we leave out tomorrow for PA, DC & NY! I'm a little excited, and a little more nervous. :) Please pray for a safe trip. If all goes well, I'll see you again next Thursday, June 18th (hopefully with lots of pictures to share)!

Enjoy your week!! :)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

God amazes me. He just does. How he uses simple things in life to open my eyes to something huge.

This morning as I was sitting on the front porch steps having my quiet time, I noticed a spider out of the corner of my eye. I put my Bible down for a moment and looked to see what it was doing. At first glance, I didn't see anything, but when the sun started to come up, it was evident...he/she was busy spinning its web. It was fascinating! I've never watched a spider in action before. It would drop down a few inches, slide over to the right, do whatever it is that spiders do in that one particular spot, come back to the left side, and then continue on. I know, my grasp on how spiders spin a web is mind boggling, isn't it? Ha! ;) Then I started thinking, "So many times when God's at work in our lives, it's like that spider web. Sometimes it may appear as if nothing is happening, but in reality, He's busy at work making something truly miraculous. It may not be visible to the naked eye, but in the end, we'll understand."


"Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
John 13:7

"For the word of the Lord holds true,and we can trust everything he does."
Psalm 33:4

Really???

I bought this container of Gatorade just 2 days ago and thanks to my children didn't get to enjoy any of it. Noah was the only child at home yesterday evening, so when he asked if he could have some, I gave in, although I was secretly hoping to save the last bit for myself. I didn't watch him pour his glass, but saw him put it back in the fridge, so I assumed there was plenty left to drink. How disappointed I was when I opened the door and saw this!!!



Really now?? Was it worth the few cents of energy it took to keep the refrigerator running to keep this amount of Gatorade cool?? Honestly?

Welcome to my world. :)

So much to do, and so little time to do it!

I'm feeling a bit like the rabbit off "Alice in Wonderland" lately...frantically rushing here and there while repeating, "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!"

Paul and I finally decided on our vacation destination...Pennsylvania! I've heard from a friend of mine how beautiful the Amish countryside is, and Paul and I are ready to take a step back and relax-so we thought we could do a bit of site seeing, as well as get away from all the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives and enjoy some simplicity (with a trip to Hershey, PA for some chocolate, of course). However, that leaves me with less than 2 weeks to prepare...there's laundry to be washed, clothes and toiletries to be packed, itenteries to be made, etc. For some procrastinators out there, 11 days may seem like more than enough time! However, for this planner/organizer personality, it's not nearly enough..well, with everything else going on in my world at the moment!

I've also decided to resign from my job. I've had the honor of working part-time as our church secretary for the past 4 years, but the time has come for me to step down. Originally, I could come in when I wanted as long as I got the job done. However, now I'm required to be there at the same time each and every day. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem-especially if I was dependent on the money to provide for my family, pay the bills, etc. But that's not the case. I get to use my paycheck for extra spending money...but $10 an hour isn't worth having to miss out on some of my kid's activities at school, etc. While I'm really looking forward to being home each and every day, there are still plenty of loose ends that need to be tied up before Wednesday...and I'm beginning to wonder how I'm going to manage to get it all done.

Our church is also having a garage sale this Saturday, and I was volunteered to help price the items (during my normal working hours). And in preparation of the sale, I decided now would be a great time to clean out my kid's closets...WHAT WAS I THINKING???

I just need to keep my parent's favorite Bible verse in mind..."This too shall pass." ;)

Vacation, anyone?

Paul and I are trying to decide where to go on vacation. He'll be off from June 12th through the 25th (although we don't plan to stay gone that long). We simply can't make up our minds!?!? Do you have any good ideas? Let me hear 'em!

Paul would prefer to be outdoors, relaxing by a lake, doing some fishing and/or swimming, etc.

The kid's want fun, fun, fun, activities like swimming and more fun!

I on the other hand am not quite sure what I want to do...?

HELP!!!

11 Years Ago...Yesterday

I became a mom for the first time! Jamie Lynn Baker was born on May 17, 1998 at 8:22 p.m. weighing in at 7 lbs, and was 18 1/2 inches long. However, being born at only 34 weeks, she was a huge preemie! ;) She only had to stay in the NICU for 9 days, and has been great ever since! I would love to post more information, but that will have to wait until another time...so, I'll leave you with one of her first pictures. Enjoy!

Simple, Yet Profound

Last week, I suddenly found myself hurled into the midst of a spiritual battle-one that has left me holding up not only my shield of faith, but fighting on behalf of my husband as well, when he doesn't have the strength to defend himself. I didn't see this coming, and have been struggling occasionally with thoughts such as, "This is not fair, God! I didn't do anything to bring this upon myself. Yet, here I am having to fight for the both of us! I didn't get myself into this mess! I shouldn't be left trying to piece this back together! This isn't my responsibility." Yet, this really shouldn't catch me off guard. In the back of my mind, I knew that an attack was pending, and God in His faithfulness has been preparing me for a while now...everywhere I turned, the subject of the Armor of God was being thrust in my lap. I find it no coincedence either that we just finished "Believing God" by Beth Moore last week too! God's timing is nothing short of miraculous.

Then yesterday morning, while I was running around like a mad woman, trying to rush out the door for church on time, my nearly 11 year old daughter was taking her sweet time, getting dressed and ready for the day. She was pondering which piece of jewelry would best suit her outfit, and I suggested this necklace that my mom and dad gave her a few year's ago in honor of her baptism. So while she non chalantly walks off to brush her hair, I dashed back to my room for the necklace. All my necklaces are currently hanging on a clothes hanger since I don't own a nice jewelry box-and for now it does the job (However, if any of you reading this feel the need to mention to Paul the idea of buying me a jewelry box for Mother's Day, I'm sure it's really the voice of the Holy Spirit). ;) I attempted to slide the necklace around and off the others, but instead of coming off easily as they normally do, it got all tangled up. As I'm standing there fighting this physical battle with the necklace, some thoughts of my spiritual battle came to mind, and I began to wrestle them both at the same time. The necklace was just about to let loose, when the cord got caught on another chain, which snagged it pretty badly. Eventually, I got it off and inspected the damage. There wasn't anything I could do to hide the damage or to make it go away. I didn't have the time to attempt to make it better, and honestly, I felt it might just make the problem worse. I simply slid the cross pendant to the front so she could put it on, and the cross was hanging right over the mess! Right then, I heard these words, "The cross covers it all!"

I thought, "You're right Lord, the cross does cover it all!"