I'm Alive But ...

Well, I am alive but my computer is not. Last week my home computer's hard drive decided to call it quits. I was very shocked and sad. I will post more when I have a computer again.

Waving Red, White and Blue

Today I am proud to be a resident of the city that I live in. If you drove through our city this morning you would have probably wondered what was going on. Fire trucks were pulled off on the side of the road with their lights flashing. Police cars were waiting at red lights with their lights flashing. And amid the rain and strong winds there stood men and women, boys and girls holding signs and waving flags.

Today our local Army Reserve Unit left our friendly little town headed to Iraq. They left behind wives expecting babies, loved ones fighting cancer, children and other family members all to protect the freedom that we take for granted.

Our church had the priviledge of hosting the Soldiers and their families for a Christmas dinner. We were also priviledged to have some of the Soldiers join us at one of our worship services. The sight of the Soldiers lined up across the altar with our Veterans standing behind them praying is a sight I will not too soon forget.

Please join me today in praying for our Soldiers that are stationed all over the world protecting our United States of America. Please also pray for their families who are also making a huge sacrifice.

Heavenly Father - I thank you for the men and women who are bravely fighting and protecting our freedom today. I pray that they will feel encouraged today and know that they are not forgotten. Please protect them and bring them home safely. Please be with their families that they left behind. Help us as your church to minister to them. Amen

Happy Easter!

I hope that you have had a wonderful day celebrating Christ's resurrection!

It has been one of those days that I just felt the need to shout. Today I celebrate my freedom! It is unfathomable how God could love me enough to sacrifice His one and only Son, Jesus. And equally hard to understand is how Jesus willingly suffered and laid down His life for me. It is a love that I do not understand but I do willingly accept it. And I am so thankful for this gift!

Oh Spring, Where is Your Warmth?

My mind has been on all things fun this week and the lack there of in my own house. It is Spring Break time and since it has been in the 40's outside we are kinda limited on our activities. Our plans are to head to Six Flags tomorrow for some thrills roller coaster style. We are all excited and hoping that the weather man is correct in forecasting some warmer temps.

I will post more later but my time is really consumed with trying to entertain kids with a very outdated bag of tricks.

Happy Spring to You!

The End of the Story

Well, I know that you have all been unable to function wondering what happened to my cat. Did she get down from the tree? Is she still alive?

Miss Cali is safe and sound at home. In fact, she is currently curled up by the front door sleeping.

You see I did not only marry a camo shot gun tot'n man, but he can also tote a ladder! Honestly, once again he was in his dress clothes and shoes. He was really going to come in the woods in those clothes and rescue our cat. Now I love our cat, but I also know those clothes and shoes would not have ever been the same after the rescue and well, I care about that too.

So, I delayed the rescue long enough for him to go change clothes.

The noise of the ladder scared her terribly bad and we were afraid she might jump or fall. So my job was to catch her if either of those things happened. There is a reason I don't play sports and it might have something to do with my inability to catch things. It might also have something to do with my lack of athletic ability and my desire to never sweat. Who knows?

Thank goodness she did not jump or fall and my skills were not put to the test!

The rescue went as planned and I carried her back home. She was exhausted and sleep most of the day. My kids were thrilled to see her when they got home.

On a totally different note, tomorrow is the big day! Proverbs 31 Ministries will be announcing the winner of the 2009 She Speaks scholarship. I believe around 140 people blogged for a chance to win. I was number 31. So, we will see.

Have a great day!

Out On A Limb!

For two days we have been searching for our cat. We have stood outside calling her and shaking her food jar. Usually the shaking of the food jar causes her to sprint toward her food dish. But for the last two days nothing has worked. My husband and I were starting to get worried.

If you know us then you know that we have not had the best luck with pets. We have been through two dogs, a cat and two rabbits. Oh, yes and there were some fish in there but I can't remember how many. Let me clarify that "been through" means they had to go live with other families because they were just not the right fit for us. But then we found Cali and well she was just perfect for us.

She came up to me one Wednesday night at church and she seemed to just be begging for a home. So we brought her home with us. She is an outside cat and is the sweetest thing ever. She sleeps by our front door most days and we just love her.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a fox in our backyard. I was a little alarmed because we live in a subdivision and you usually don't see foxes in your back yard. We do back up to some woods so my husband said he was probably just passing through. Well, the next week our children were outside playing and the fox chases our cat out of the woods into our yard.

You should have seen it. My husband had just gotten in from work and was still in his dress pants and button down shirt. He runs and grabs his shot gun and dashes out into the yard. I started laughing because it is not everyday that you see a man in dress clothes running out tote'n a camo shot gun. The fox got away unharmed.

So when our sweet Cali could not be found for two days we started to wonder if the fox had well, gotten her.

We were sad this morning when we got up for school and turned on the outside lights and Cali was still not there. For some reason, my husband and I had decided that this was the day. Either she would come home or we would have to accept the fact that she was gone.

I get the kids out the door for school and then the phone rings. I figured it was my husband saying one of the kids had forgotten something. It was my husband, but he was telling me to come outside quickly because they had found Cali. She was stuck up in a tree across the street from our house. My son spotted her when they were pulling out of the driveway. My job was to keep an eye on her while my husband took the kids to school. Then he would come back to rescue her.

As I got close to her, I felt so sorry for her. She was shaking and crying and wanting to move but paralyzed with fear. She was stuck out on a tiny little limb alone.

As I stood under the tree looking up at her, God began to speak to my heart. There are so many women out there in a similar situation. They are cold, lonely, scared and paralyzed by fear. We walk past them every day. It may be the woman beside me in the grocery store aisle. Or the woman in front of me in the car pool line. Or the woman behind me in the check out line. Or it may be you.

My prayer is that God will give me eyes today to see them; to hear their cry for help. I know the One that rescues and He stands ready with outstretched arms. May I be His arms and hands today to reach out to those that are crying for help.

Ladies, we all have a kinsman-redeemer and His name is Jesus Christ. He longs to save and rescue you from whatever is holding you captive. I pray that you will pursue Him today. Believe me He will pursue you back!

She Speaks!

I am sitting at my computer trying to be creative and clever while my heart is racing. And unfortunately, the creative cleverness is just not coming. I thought if I could type a great post then maybe I could be picked and I could win the scholarship to attend She Speaks 2009. However, I quickly realized that it is not about my creative cleverness or lack there of because if God wants me there then it will happen in spite of me.

I know you are probably saying "What? What are you talking about?"

Well, it all started on Thursday when I was going through my daily blog reading. I clicked on Lysa Terkeurst's blog and her post was titled "She Speaks Scholarship Contest for Bloggers". I could not read fast enough, but I did not want to read too fast and miss something. She Speaks is a conference that Proverbs 31 Ministries put together for women who feel called to speak, write, blog, lead in women's ministry or reach the next generation for Christ. The conference is packed with practical information designed to help you fulfill the calling God has placed on your life. You can read more about the conference by clicking on She Speaks in the above sentences.

I attended the She Speaks Conference in 2007 and it was a life changing experience for me. I mean LIFE CHANGING! I went hoping to obviously learn something, but more importantly I wanted to hear from God. I was all by myself. I drove to North Carolina by myself, I roomed by myself and I attended the conference by myself. It was a first for me as I am not usually a lone traveler. But what I quickly learned was that I was not by myself at all. There were 400 other women there who felt just as unsure about God's calling on their lives as I did. And I ended up with a roommate after all - God. I had such a sweet time of fellowship with Him that weekend. I had a revival in my soul and a revival in my calling. God gave me direction. God redefined my purpose. It was more than I ever dreamed of.

Earlier this year, I started thinking a lot about the conference. God has done amazing things in my life over the past 2 years since I attended. I have been obedient to Him in the very things that we talked out that weekend. And He has proven Himself faithful to me over and over. I really want to go back.

I mean I REALLY WANT TO GO BACK! But, there is this little thing called money that is standing in my way. So, I committed to just pray about it because I know money is no obstacle to my God.

Now do you understand my excitement when I read Lysa's blog post?

Could it be me?

Could this be God's way of working it all out?

I don't know. But I do know this...whom ever God picks to receive this scholarship is in for a life changing experience and that gets me excited!