I Trust You Jesus

This past week, I have had my own revival. There wasn't a special Preacher from out of town and no special music, unless you count me singing in my car. We did not meet Monday through Wednesday at 7:00 pm.

No, this wasn't a regularly scheduled revival and no one else was involved. Just me and Jesus.

Over the past few weeks I had let fear and doubt creep in to some areas in my life. And before I knew it they were being louder and more vocal than my faith. Thankfully, Jesus set me straight and reminded me that fear and doubt do not come from Him. I was also reminded that I needed to replace those things with faith.

So, I adopted a new saying...

I TRUST YOU JESUS!

I literally say this out loud when I start to feel fear and / or doubt trying to creep back in. Do you know what has happened as a result of this simple saying?

God has replaced the fear and doubt with His peace. I say it and immediately I feel better. When said, those four words demonstrate what is happening in my heart. Literally, I am trusting Jesus. No matter how uncertain I think things may be and how I would really like a little more confirmation in some areas, in my heart I do trust Jesus. I know that He alone is all powerful and all knowing and I know that He loves me and only wants what is best for me.

How could I not trust Him?

For several weeks, a church sign in my area had the following saying:

Faith is walking to the edge of the unknown and taking one more step.

Think about that for a moment...

That is a really cute saying but it is one of those things that is so hard to live out. A couple of years ago, God called me away from my career. I was making a great salary and loved where I was working. But I knew that if I stayed in my career that I would be missing a great journey with the Lord.

Guess what happened after I left my job...the economy took a nose dive. I had it all planned out that I would get a job at my children's school, that I would have their hours and the blue birds would begin circling my house and singing everyday all while carrying a yellow ribbon in their mouths.

Guess who had a hiring freeze...my kids school. But God provided for me and my family in ways that I never even dreamed of.

I find it easy to trust God when I am calling all the shots. When life is going along easy, peasy and I am comfortable. But that is not really trust at all. Trust involves abandoning my control of things and extending my hand to Him. Sometimes we may not feel His grasp but we still must extend our hand believing that He is there to guide us.

Before going into my boss' office to resign, I shut my office door and had a little talk with the Lord. I told Him that I wanted to be obedient to Him and that I was going to reach my hand out as far as I could. When He felt my fingers, I asked Him if He could just give me a little pull because I was scared to death of the unknown that awaited me.

He has been so faithful to me. He not only gave me a little pull but He held my hand and never let go. He promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us, never!

I pray today that you can rest in this promise. Rest knowing that God knows your name and every little detail about you. Rest knowing that He loves you more than you can imagine. And rest knowing that once you give Him your heart, He will never leave you or forsake you!

"My beloved is mine, and I am his..." Song of Solomon 2:16

The Hands of Time

The craziest thing has happened to me...

I woke up yesterday morning the mother of a 4th Grader and a 2nd Grader! Where has the time gone? If I stay in that thought process for too long the tears will come because I know day before yesterday I was knee deep in diapers and wondering if I would ever get to go to the bathroom by myself again.

I can't remember if I shared this already, but several months ago I was going through some things in the attic and discovered a box of my sons clothes. They were clothes from his first spring and summer. I started pulling outfits out of the box and the memories started flowing. The next thing I know I am smelling the clothes and in the midst of the "ugly" cry. Oh yes I was! I do not know how, but even after being washed and stored in the attic for years, they still smelled like him.

I remembered holding him in my arms and cuddling with him. My arms had ached for a baby for years and in God's perfect timing He delivered our son to us. He was the perfect fit for those aching arms.

Let me encourage you today by telling you that if you are waiting on God for something, His timing is perfect!

His timing is rarely like mine, but He is always right on time.

Since I was sharing about my son as a baby, do you know that my husband's desire was to become a dad by the time he was thirty.

Guess what day it was when we met and picked up our son?

If you guessed my husband's thirtieth birthday, then you are correct. Our God is a God of details and let me tell you from experience not one gets by Him unnoticed.

Take heart today knowing that He knows all the desires and dreams of your heart and He also know what is best for your heart. And that is exactly what He wants for you!

Praise Him today because He is always good!

He is always on time!

And He loves you more than you could ever imagine!

Let Me Introduce Myself...

I guess I decided that I would take a little vacation from my blog. It really wasn't something I sat down and put a lot of thought into. We have just been really busy this summer and before I knew it a month had passed since my last post. I am glad to be back.

This summer, we took a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. I have been going to PCB since I was a child, but this summer I experienced Shell Island for the very first time. It was amazing!

It was our last day of vacation and we really wanted to do something fun but didn't feel like staying at the pool or beach. I had read about Shell Island in a brochure we got, so we all decided to go and check it out. As you gathered from the name, it is an island. (Ha!) We set out to take the ferry but first made a quick stop at Chick-fil-A. My family, including myself, can only go a few days without nuggets and sweet tea. I did something I have never done before. I ate at Chick-fil-A in my bathing suit and cover-up with wild curly hair and little make-up. God bless the people at the Panama City Chick-fil-A! They will probably never be the same! Oh, I kid!

Anyway, we leave Chick-fil-A and start driving around in hopes of finding the ferry. Lucky us...we forgot to bring the brochure so we really had no idea where we were going. Our friends, Brent and Malissa and sweet Parker were with us. We get down to the port, if that is even what you call it, and start looking for signs to Shell Island. We all decided that we valued our lives too much to ride on one of their boats, plus they acted like "ferry to Shell Island" was foreign to them. We continue driving around forever.

It was very typical. The men didn't want to pull over for directions and we women kept telling them to stop and get directions. Finally we pull into a hotel and they give us typed out directions to the ferry to Shell Island. Let me just say, we never would have found it!

You get on the ferry at the State Park, only to our great surprise the ferry boats aren't running that day. So, after much debate we decide to rent our own boat and drive to Shell Island. I trust my man and he has boating experience, but there was one point when the boat started taking on water that we were clinging to Jesus and praying for Him to deliver us from our stupidity. The water is very, very, VERY rough where the Gulf and the bay meet. But we finally made it to the island and it was so worth it.

We entered and threw out the anchor on the bay side. It was very beautiful. The island is uninhabited and was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We got off the boat and headed for shore in search of shells. We found a hermit crab and a clam. Me and the kids decided to go explore the gulf side of the island. When we saw it, it literally took my breath. The water was crystal blue and gorgeous. We started walking and could not believe the shells we were finding. I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids. We were finding shells that you normally have to buy. It was so much fun!

Isn't that just beautiful!

At one point, I walked ahead while my family was busy finding sand dollars. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of what I was seeing. I was overwhelmed by how amazing my God is and by His goodness. I was reminded that every good and perfect gift is from above and knew that God was definitely giving me a gift that day. As I stood with the waves turning at my ankles, all I could say to Him was "You are so good, You are so good!" I literally stood soaking in every minute of it. It will go down in my memory bank as one of the best days ever.

Look who is thrilled that Mom is asking for another picture!

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Schedules and Other Ugly Words

Several months ago Kelly at Kelly's Korner did a post on Show Us Your Life - Cleaning Tips. If you have visited my blog for any length of time, you know that I hate cleaning. I decided to read several of the links people gave with all their tips. The one common tip that kept coming up was a cleaning schedule. My mother use to clean house once a week. Now, she kept things picked up everyday but as far as vaccumming, dusting and cleaning bathrooms that was a once a week job. So, I took on the same schedule as my mom when I became a big girl and got my own house. Here is the problem...as more people have been added to my house the mess has gotten bigger. In my newlywed days, I could clean the whole house in about an hour because it wasn't very big and we weren't very messy.

Sidenote...After we were married for a year, we moved to Texas for Cliff to go to a Bible college. Our apartment was so tiny that I could vaccum the whole thing from one plug. Too funny!

Anyway, as I was saying now that there are four people in our family with two of them being children I can't clean the house in an hour. It takes me practically all day and then I'll just be honest and tell you that I don't have a really great attitude when it is all done. And don't you even think about messing something up after I have cleaned all day...Do you see the problem?

So from the reading on all the cleaning tips I want to implement a cleaning schedule. Basically you clean something in your house everyday and your house always looks clean. Here is an example, one lady cleans her bathrooms every Monday. She also washes all the bathmats on Monday because they are included in the bathroom. Tuesday might be floor day and vaccums, sweeps and mops on this day. Some included laundry in their schedules but I can't do laundry only once a week. My family would not be happy with me.

I have been trying to implement a schedule for weeks now. Do you know what my problem is? Well I previously cleaned my house on Fridays. So when I want to start my cleaning schedule on Monday, well the bathrooms still look clean. And who wants to clean something you just cleaned. So then I wait and say I will start my schedule next week. Well come the end of the week the whole house is so messy and needs cleaning that I clean everything. And do you see the crazy cycle? Monday rolls around and nothing needs cleaning.

It really wears me out but in the end I think a cleaning schedule will make my life easier. Especially this summer when I don't really feel like doing anything but laying in the pool.

So do you have a cleaning schedule or do you clean once a week? I would love to hear your comments.

So Long May

May has gotten away from me. It seems like the last couple of weeks were a blur of busyness. I did want to update you on the talent show. At the last minute, my little performer decided that she needed flames on her skirt.

The talent show was on Friday morning and on Thursday night I was enjoying a girls night out. So I enjoyed going to Walmart with my girlfriends at midnight in search of flames. Luckily, I found fabric with flames on it. I am not exaggerating that I was up until 2:30 in the morning cutting out flames and ironing them on to her skirt.

Honestly, it was all worth it when she saw the skirt. She loved it and I think I impressed her with my "flame ability". Here is a picture of my little performer.

She did great lip singing her song, but unfortunately the moves did not come to her. She basically just stood still. I was just so proud of her for getting up in front of her classmates and performing. She already has big plans for next year's show.

When did it happen?

This Friday my daughter is in the talent show at her school. It really surprised me when she told me that she wanted to try out. She is going to be lip singing to a Kids Bop song called Fire Burning.

Well, she made the cut for the talent show but her music teacher did tell her she needed to get some moves. If you know anything about me, you know that I do not have moves. Oh sure I can move if something is chasing me, but to choreograph a number to the tune of Fire Burning isn't really something I am good at.

Despite my short comings in the dance area, I thought I would give it a try. Today I thought we could just do a run through and get some "moves". I started the cd and gave it a try. My daughter immediately started laughing and telling me how goofy I looked.

Apparently my moves are goofy and something to be laughed at. It kinda hurt my feelings. When did I become goofy and uncool?

Best I can tell, it all happened when I got the name "Mom" a little over 9 years ago.

Then some drama ensued and I had to get a reality check. I got a little to into the talent show and my expectations got a little out of whack. Do you ever do that?

I read a devotion this morning about not letting your tale feathers get ruffled. To step back from the situation and make a choice. Let your head spin around a few time or choose joy or grace or mercy or patience or love.

Today I will be honest and tell you that my head started to spin and then I got a hold of it. I am so proud of my daughter for having the confidence to stand in front of the whole first grade and lip sing to this song. At her age, I would never have dreamed of doing something like that. So I had a real choice to make - ask like a crazy mom or let go of my expectations and let her do it her way. I chose to let her do it her way. She says that the moves will come to her and you know what I bet they will.

Oh Monday, Monday, Monday!

My Monday morning did not start out at all how I wanted it to. Why is it that on Monday your sheets hold you captive? My bed never feels better than on a Monday morning.

So, I surrendered to my sheets and sleep through the snooze about 4 or 5 times. When I finally mustered the energy to get up, well we had to throw it into high geer to make it to school on time. Of course my daughter did not feel the need to hurry or to like any of her clothes this morning. To say it was a struggle is an understatement.

I finally get us to the kitchen to be reminded that we did not have bread, waffles, muffin mix or basically anything. I did manage to find some pancake mix in the pantry, to which my daughter said she did not really want pancakes but she would eat them.

Well, thank you! (That pretty much sums up my feelings)

While serving my delicious breakfast, I spot some legs on our deck. The four legs look a lot like my dog but how can he be out of his invisible fence?

I had no time to think about the dog because I was busy being a drill sargent; "Get your shoes, brush your teeth, get your bookbag, HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!"

I was tempted to not return home after taking the kids to school because of all the fun that awaited me. My husband was in the bed not feeling well, my dog was muddy and out of his fence and Lucky (formerly know as Snowball) was starving.

I managed to get my dog back in his fence but not before I was muddy from head to toe. I also got Lucky fed. Then I headed to the bath where I wanted to sit for the rest of the day.

I concluded the day by feeding my children box macaroni and cheese but I made it healthy by serving it with apples and grapes. I had to serve this because I still don't have bread or much of anything else.

Oh Monday, Monday, Monday you never disappoint.