Making plans

How funny is it that I physically write down what I plan to do each hour of everyday? Seriously, every evening I write down on a sheet of paper every single thing that I hope to accomplish within each hour of the next day! So, I always have a list or schedule next to me at any given time. Unless, of course, I'm hanging out with family or friends. That time is sacred, and cannot be interrupted. I won't allow it to be measured by the hands of a clock.

I'm going to eventually ponder what this says about me and where I am in my life right now. More thoughts on this later.

Season of Restoration

Something occured to me this morning. Do you know how some relationships can just go stale? This can happen for a variety of reasons, and I believe that it's not usually noticed by either party until it's too late. I LOVE people. I LOVE being around people. However, I have learned the following about myself over the last few years: What I love the most about people is the attention that they give me! With that being said, the actual "love" that I feel for most people that I'm in relationships with has been mostly conditional. That is a problem.

Many of the relationships that I have become a part of as a young adult up to now were formed based on the aforementioned, sadly. And over the past 2 to 3 years, I have found myself lamenting over several friendships that seemed to no longer exist. One of them I definitely didn't think had a chance, but there were also others that just fell by the wayside over time. I take complete and FULL responsibility for the potential demise of every relationship that I've been in that turned out this way because of my attitude going into them.

Over the past few months, the Lord has been guiding me through a period of renewal. People that I haven't spoken with in years are reappearing in my life. For me, this serves as an indication that the Lord has a reason for these relationships to be fostered again. I pray regularly for Him to allow me to cross paths with those that He knows I can benefit from and those that He has decided need to benefit from what He does through me. I can see this happening, and the power of it is AWESOME.

I decided a few months back to try harder to cease placing so much of a hardship on others to make me feel a certain way emotionally. I haven't realized for most of my life that I have done this. When you become married and especially when you become a parent, very many things become more clear if you pay attention.

Thank you, dear Heavenly Father for 2nd, 3rd, and infinitely many chances to reclaim things that are precious to me. I love you Lord! And I love my family and friends in a way that I haven't been able to until recently...unconditionally. :-)

Contentment

I'm going to go spend some time meditating over Phillippians 4 in its entirety. I need to focus less on the need to be happy, and more on the necessity of contentment. Happiness depends on our current day to day circumstances...contentment depends on the state of our spirit and relationship with God.

The time is drawing near for me to really find out what I'm made of. I've been so excited for Chris to go to law school ever since I found out he got accepted. I was SO caught up in the excitement of him finally reaching this goal, that the reality of the big picture never really soaked in. It's beginning to become very clear now, though, and the real test will be when he actually starts classes in a few weeks. I'll have to step up and be that true virtuous woman of God that the Lord speaks about in Proverbs 31: 10-31. And that's a lot to live up to, but I know a few women who do everyday. I know that it can be done, through Christ.

A long time ago, Chris and I decided to block off an entire month of Saturdays to spend with our kids from Mt Paran that we hardly ever see anymore since we've gotten so busy lately. Last Saturday was SO much fun. Cassie and I hung out with the Barfield family (Katie, Mary Ann, and David). They are a blast and I already want to start planning our next time together!

I started going through my magazine rack to find some Health & Fitness magazines, when I ran across a Christian magazine that I've never seen before. It looked really interesting, but I put it aside so that I could watch Y&R (Young and Restless) which I tape everyday. Guess what? We have no Comcast cable service right now. The internet service is working, obviously, but not the cable. So once I finish this post, I'll be reading that magazine with my Bible right there by my side. See how God works? Even at the moment we're not seeking Him, He makes Himself available to us anyway! I love Him SO much!!

"11)...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12)I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13)I can do everything through him who gives me strength." - Phillippians 4:11-13

We see that I can type the talk; now it's time for me to find out if I can walk the walk as well. :-)

Until next time!

What a day...

You know those days where you get near the end of it and think to yourself, "What a waste!" I really wish that I could rewind and start over. I would definitely do things differently.

1st off, I would have gone in to work today, instead of staying home. My intentions were good: get a little rest, hangout with the family, take care of some school stuff for Olan, etc,... However, there was absolutely NO relaxing done, not to mention the fact that no progress was made today. Not only was today non-productive, but I ended up making the most stupid mistake ever at my job...and I wasn't even at work!! Geesh.

The good news is that tomorrow has got to be better. (Famous last words...I know.) :-) I believe in my heart that something happy and good is right around the corner. And I look forward to being pleasantly surprised by whatever it is.

God Bless and Good Night.

Post-Holiday moodiness

I really wish that I could pinpoint what these mood swings are about that I've been having today. I find myself getting very excited about things, but within hours, I'm feeling anxious about something. I'm sure that the answer will be revealed to me in due time. I'm just not in the best mood right now, I guess. Ah! I just realized why! I'm starving. I'm one of those people that needs to eat 10 small meals a day in order to maintain my sanity.

What was I thinking? Time to go eat dinner now. :-)

God's Message to America

Today was the 1st day in a very long time that my husband and I went to our church. We still can't believe that we let so many weeks go by without going. My hubby said this morning that while sitting in the pews this morning he felt like a dry sponge, and that the message was gallons of water being doused on him. We both left feeling that the Holy Spirit was able to penetrate our spirits in a way unlike anything we've experienced in months.

We saw many people that we are very close to. Sometimes you don't realize that there's a void in your life until it gets filled. I saw so many of our Sunday morning discipleship students and that meant so much to me! It was great seeing their beautiful faces and when they came running over ecstatic to see us, it did wonders for my heart and my spirit.

I also ran into one of the people that I love more than anyone, my friend Allison. She is one of the most strong, positive, intelligent women I know, and our friendship is like something from a storybook. We became fast friends, but the time my husband and I, and Alli and Danny spent together was lasting. Even though we don't communicate regularly, when we do see one another, we just pick up where we left off. I love her and her family so much. I wish I was in a position to be more available to them, because it would mean so much to be around them as much as we used to. Click here to read her thoughts on her incredible life story.

Our pastor spoke today on God's message to America. No one preaches like Pastor Cooper, I tell you. The message is one that we all need to heed. The Lord's prophecy will come to pass. And He has made His prophecy clear. Pastor Cooper preached from Psalm 2 today. Please read it in its entirety.

God Bless you all!