Labor of Love

Today I think we should ask ourselves how far would you go to show someone you loved them? To show the Love of God? Lately I have found myself in situations where my flesh would like to run the other way, but that 'still small voice' nudges me to go a little farther. Our pastor just preached an extremely heartfelt message along these lines. With tears he said, "You've been hurt before. You've been burned, so you just stop trying. NO, NO, NO!! Hell is real. Think about that." Yeah.....

Yesterday I was privileged to work with a lost family for 7 hrs, 42 mins just for the cause of Christ. And let me just say it wasn't something my flesh enjoyed....but my spirit felt great! I have high hopes for this whole family! I want to see them saved. They are no relation of mine, just lost souls in my path. The grandmother said she would never step foot in a church again b/c of past experiences. I said, "Granny, one day you'll be sitting on one of those pews at the church and of that I have no doubt." She grinned while she shook her head vehemently. As I grinned back I told her, "We'll see."

One of my all time favorite people in history, Abe Lincoln said: "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that's my religion."

I'm on a mission, aren't you?

John 13:35 By this shall all {men} know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

I GOT FLOWERS!!

I got flowers!! I couldn't believe it! The afternoon after I posted about my hubby, what'd'ya know..........roses!!

However, strangely enough they were not from my husband. Nor from my boys. Only one other main man in my life....yep, you guessed it-my Dad. Picked & delivered with love.

Thanks again Dad, for that wonderful lesson on "passing out flowers while we're living." (BTW-loved the DP vase, LOL!)

Life's Blessings II

In past posts, I have made tribute to my children Alex, Randy, and Sydni. Today I would like to applaud my hubby, Scott.



For 14 years now I have been blessed to be your wife. That is a really long time to put up with somebody like me, HaHa! I decided to list some of the reasons why I love you:



1. You are the most decent honorable man I have ever known and you make me whole.



2. You think I'm beautiful.



3. You taught yourself to play piano when you were 9 years old.



4. Your voice-it's amazing. When you start singing all the girls at church stop what they're doing and stare at you in awe, ROFL! But I'm still your biggest fan.



5. You gave me three incredible children.



6. You have worked hard to provide for your family.



7. You can play guitar.



8. You can also play the drums.



9. You like adventure! Whether it's riding every ride @ Carowinds or going camping/hiking for a whole week you're always up for it!



10. You have driven ole 'Bessie' these 10 years and never complained. I think you actually like the car/her. Now our third vehicle your Dodge that really, really, really needs a paint job and I've begged you to do it......Nope! Doesn't bother you in the least to drive it. "It runs great and that's all that matters for now." And thats the end of it.



11. You're really CUTE!!



12. You like to TRAVEL and I love it!



13. You love me so much you can't stand the thought I might be upset with you. "Let's talk it out and fix it. Right now." When sometimes I just want to stay mad, LOL!



14. Okay, I'll make this the last one. One for every year of our marriage. You have loved me and our children all these years, but more importantly you have loved God and done everything within your power to serve Him. Even when the cost was great.

And now I look forward to our future together! Bring it on, Babe!! Oh and by the way....I better get flowers for this! LAUGH OUT LOUD, caus' I know I am!!

Like Father, Like Daughter

Just a few weeks ago I was talking to a friend about my Dad and how he loved PEACE. Like as in the only time I ever remember him getting riled when us girls were little was if we were fighting. And the time I got into a fight at school with a girl who was a bully, he drove me to her house that night to make PEACE. He and my mom talked with her mom while I talked with bully(under direct supervision). What was so hilarious is that we actually did make up and became friends again. Wow, it worked!

A couple of weeks ago at work this girl & I had a MAJOR misunderstanding that led to some MAJOR frustrations. In the end both of us were pretty agitated. So when I confronted her about it (in a nice way)she got angry and started yelling. Whoa!! No, no. Even as a Christian I feel I handled the situation the best way I could but I'll admit I got defensive when she started yelling at me. And the MD just so happened to be in his office and heard the whole thing. So eventually he ends up going back to her office and telling her to stop talking about me. He didn't think she was being fair to me and she should apologize. Whoa!! Twas a long afternoon. But before she left no apologies were made from either of us. The only good thing about that Friday was that we all knew the MD was going away the next week for a conference and we would have the week off.

By Tuesday of the following week I felt like things needed to be dealt with. I tried my best to analyze the situation to see exactly what I did to make her so mad. I prayed the Lord would show me what I did wrong so I could make my part right. Anyway, Tuesday morning I decided to call her. No answer. No surprise there. In the past she had invited me to come to her house and she lives right down the street from my sister, so I decided I would drop in on her to try to make PEACE. Sound familiar?! I really wasn't feeling angry anymore, just very confused at what really happened to get us to that place.

So I pull up in her driveway and walk to the front door. Her teenage daughter opens it before I have a chance to knock. She is smiling at me. Good sign. "Come on in," she said. I walked in and hubby is sitting on couch and looks at me with a scowl and said in a monotone voice, "Have a seat." Not a good sign. Oh well, I was on a mission and I intended to complete it. "Where's (NAME)?" "She's in the back, she'll be out in a minute," hubby answered. Then (NAME)starts walking down the hallway towards me & says, "Girl, we just got back from camping and I look a mess." She's talking and not yelling, another good sign. I don't know what prompted this unusual response from me, I mean I didn't really plan anything. I just prayed-all the way, LOL! So I walked right up to her, leaned in real close and said, "I don't know if you knew this, but I am a blackbelt in karate and if you want too we can take this outside and finish it." Laughter-from both of us. Another good sign.

So we go out on the back deck and finish it. I told her I was sorry if I hurt her in anyway, that I certainly never meant too. She said it was her and she gets real irrational sometimes and just says things she shouldn't. We talked for awhile and she apologized. Wow, it worked! Talk about Deja vu!

So, thanks Dad for the real life lessons on PEACE. I'd have to say you've been a real example in that!!!

Matt 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Which Road Are You On?

Last pm in church the preacher made the statement, "You are on one of two roads, you're either on your way to heaven or on your way to hell." Well Sydni looked at me and asked, "Am I going to heaven?" I smiled at the question and told her, "If you are a Christian and have Jesus in your heart you will. Do you have Jesus in your heart?" Matter of factly she told me, "Yes, but I haven't been dunked under the water." Immediately realizing she was talking about being baptised (fighting the urge to giggle at her description) I told her the Church is planning on baptising our new converts this Sunday if she wanted to as well she could. "Ok, just bring me some clothes and a towel." And the whole time I wondered if my children ever got anything out of service. Now I know, LOL! I am so thankful!! Both my boys have been baptised and now my little girl wants to be as well. So, Lord willing this Sunday our pastor and her Daddy will 'dunk her under the water.'

And as always, God is good and I am blessed..........

I'm in the Mood for ________

You guys remember that old song? I'll let you fill in your own blank. But here I go and nobody try to stop me.

I'm in the mood for "blogging." Simply because I really enjoy it and I have some free time since Kel took 2 of the kids to stay the night and the other is w/a friend. So it's really quiet at my house which is extremely abnormal even at this time of night. During the summer my hubby allows the kids to stay up later than usual if we have nothing pressing to do early the next am. So they enjoy staying up when they can. Next week their 3 boy cousins are coming in from TN so they can begin building a treehouse together @ my parents. Needless to say they are all very excited. I am feeling quite excited about it myself.

My family and I were gone the weekend to Kentucky for the Whitehead Reunion. It was a whole lot of fun. Scott's dad has 13 brothers and sisters so it was quite the turn out. It's really neat to see family you haven't gotten to see in awhile. It was great seeing Scott's brother and his family. Becca spent alot of time with us and we had a blast! I have a tendency to act rather silly around my niece and nephews. They are all growing up so fast.

On the way to Kentucky the interstate was lined with beautiful purple wildflowers. Well, I (being a bit conniving)mentioned how special it would make a girl feel for her man to stop the vehicle, get out and pick her some. ROFL! His response, "Yeah," with a grin. And of course I grinned back. Well, Becca is 15 now and she is starting to date and so Uncle Scott and I were giving her some tips. Or maybe you could call them "Rules." For example when the subject came up about a girl chasing after a guy I let Becca know real quick Rule#14 Girls don't chase guys. Guys have to chase the girl.

Then of course Uncle Scott informed Becca he wanted the guys cell #, he wanted to have a talk with him.

Anyway, on the way home after a great weekend we're driving back on interstate and I notice those beautiful wildflowers again. And of course I want some. I mean how much plainer does a girl have to get?! So after a few minutes of silence and the sure realization that if I really want any of those flowers I'll have to get them myself I holler, "Stop the car!" Of course this gets hubbys attention and he's wondering what in the world is wrong. "Stop the car!" I yell again. I just had a feeling if he knew what I was up too.......well you get my point. After 14 years you just don't get flowers anymore. (I do have to inject here for health reasons if nothing else, my hubby did plan a very wonderful birthday get away for me last month in which he was extremely thoughtful). So he stops the van. All is quiet. I smile at him, open the door and proceed to pick every purple flower within my reach. I was in such bliss! No kidding, I loved it! It didn't even matter anymore that I was the one picking them. It was a beautiful day and I was feeling so blessed as one of God's children that all my heart was rejoicing in that beauty. After I have a good size bouquet gathered I decided to return to the 'real world' and get back in the van. When I opened the door I saw the most gorgeous wildflower bouquet in my seat. Their beauty far exceeded my handful. I was so busy with my own I never even knew Scott had picked me any. I loved them! A beautiful day with my soul feeling so blessed for so many reasons! It was perfect! Just perfect.........until just a few miles down the road my Romeo's allergies started acting up and he felt like 'things' were crawling all over him.

So for all you single girls out there (you too Becca) before your Romeo picks you a bouquet of wildflowers which is a must (Rule #8 Must do flowers-esp wild ones)make sure he's not allergic.

Who Could Ask for More?

The birthday trip was great! Scott took me to the Marriott in South Park, Charlotte. It was really nice. Dinner was at an Italian Restaurant called Maggiano's where we ate Lobster and Tiramisu. It was wonderful! I woke up @ 1:30 and wondered where Scott was until I finally found him in the King sized bed. The next day was spent shopping. Believe it or not the shopping wasn't all that thrilling for me. Normally I love it, but there were just so many things to catch the eye and make you want it even though they weren't necessities. Store after store with highly priced merchandise. We were finally saved when we found a bookstore. We spent a couple of hours there, LOL! Then we went for ice cream and headed home. A couple of days spent with the man I love....who could ask for more?

It's All Good

Well another day. Another year. It's all good. Except I'm not exactly packed and ready to go on our little trip. Perhaps I should get at it. Maybe just a few more minutes........

So yesterday a little girl at the babysitter's (better known as Nonnie) slapped Syd in the face. When Sydni told me the story she said, "And I accidently slapped her back. In the face. Hard." Supposedly this little girl who is several years older had jaw pain the rest of the day. No fun dealing with that one. Of course I told her you can't 'accidently' hit someone. And it's never okay to hit, even if they hit you first. So her Dad and I discussed it and dealt with the situation. Many times I find myself so thankful to have a husband to turn too in times like these. Speaking of my husband I think I'll go get packed now, LOL................

Nice Mommy

Yep.....tomorrow's the big day! My B-day! Yeh! Well, we all know it's no fun getting 'older' (although of course better than the alternative right)but I am looking forward to the little surprise trip my hubby planned for the two of us! Not my idea-all his. What can I say? He's learning, HaHaHeHe! After 14 years of marriage I would say it's about time, wouldn't you? *wink*

My kiddos are enjoying the summer.......of course! Well, except for the mandatory one hour 'quiet time' each day. There are two things that seem to be a struggle for all three of my children. 1) Being quiet & 2) being still.

All three kids love to sing which they do so very frequently and did I mention LOUDLY at home?

Then you should see us at story time before bed. Three cute cuddly WIGGLE WORMS all on one couch. Now that makes for an adventure........

Well I really must get going. I think I'll end this post by letting everyone know I gave the BB guns back to the rightful owners. Nice Mommy. Very nice Mommy.