So Blessed and Thankful

1. I'm thankful for full tummies and everyone tucked into bed. 2. I'm thankful for new magazines that are found in the mailbox each month. 3. I'm thankful for a place to call home and it's more than I thought I could have by myself. God is so good. 4. I'm thankful for this Spring weather! I love the rain, cool nights and warm days. 5. I'm thankful for lessons learned from other people's journeys. Life is complicated at times, painful, lonely, exciting, new, sad, and eventful. I'm not always excited about the hard times or the unexplained times, but I know that God's Will is perfect. And I know that nothing happens in our lives unless God allows it.

I'm in a new season. And it's not particularly fun all the time. But I know that I'm growing. I know that my God loves me and that I'm not alone. That's such good news, but I do get sad from time to time. But it's when I compare my life to someone else's or when I take my eyes off of my Lord and start wanting what this world offers. How easy I forget. I feel like an ADHD child who can't slow his brain down, when I find myself in left field reflecting on the world instead of Heaven.

I want to be superwoman, trying to be the best employee, best mama, best schedule juggler, best everything...but I how I forget that I'm supposed to be shining for God's Glory, pointing everything I am and have to Him, not me. Why do I forget that? My sin nature. Inflating self is so much easier. Lord, forgive me when I want others to see me instead of You.

We are here for such a short time. Life is but a vapor. I want to make everyday count and point to Him. Because His Mercy and His Grace saved me. Christ took on my due punishment and yours, so we could be reconciled to the Father. I pray for moment by moment transformation. I want my thoughts and motives to be pure in His Sight. I want to become less of me and more of Him. I want to be merciful and kind, generous and forgiving, and loving like He loves. I can't do any of that without allowing Him to transform me and remembering it's ALL about Him.

Be blessed!!!! =)

Saying our turtle goodbyes, Tennis and Teens

We let our pet turtle, Rocky, go in the local lake today. We've had him since Christmas of 1999. He was such a sweet little guy, but he had outgrown his third tank and I wasn't investing in another one and I didn't want him to be miserable any more!!! So, we waved goodbye to him today. Of course, my youngest cried! Bless him, he's so dramatic. Bye Rocky! I hope you get to eat lots of fish and make some new turtle friends!

My oldest had her last high school tennis match of the season. She played doubles and singles. She won her singles match 8-4. I was so proud of her. =) And speaking of my oldest, she has had a boyfriend for a month now. He's a doll, good student, awesome athlete and comes from a great family. The catch is, he's two years older and he DRIVES. I've never let her ride with ANYONE under the age of 25 and I'm even picky then. And I've let her ride with him a few times now and it's so strange to think that she's growing up. And that I'm making different decisions than I've ever made before. He's still bummed that I won't let her go on dates until she's 16. They have a good six months before that! Maybe they will cherish it when it finally comes! Life is good!

Saying goodbye to a sweet pet, watching my daughter play a sport when she swore she wasn't athletic, and watching her make good decisions and really love someone for the first time! I'm so thankful for these times in my life.

1. I'm thankful for sweet welcomes from our lab, Bo Henry. 2. I'm thankful for voice mails from my nephews telling me something new! 3. I'm thankful for kisses directly on the mouth in front of everyone from my seven year old! 4. I'm thankful for the times I had watching sweet Rocky swim and wave his little front legs when I touched the aquarium glass. 5. I'm thankful for the talks that I get to have with my oldest, 15 year old daughter. I treasure her honesty, her openness and her opinions! I'm so blessed.

Things I'm thankful for

1. I'm so thankful for the smell of rosemary. It is one of my favorite smells. And it makes the most beautiful house plant. 2. I'm so thankful for the rain, thunder & lightning. I just want all of my family to be safely inside to enjoy it!!! =) 3. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to meet new people. At church, the ball fields, the tennis courts, soccer fields and at work. They're are so many amazing people that inspire me. 4. I'm so thankful for decorating blogs. I love peeking into other's worlds and seeing how they furnish & style their spaces!!! =) One of my favorite blogs is Isabella & Max Rooms found here http://isabellaandmaxrooms.blogspot.com/ 5. I'm so thankful for cameras. I love taking photos of my family and my little life. Documenting my short time here!!!

Little Bear got the game ball tonight!!! He was so proud. It was the first hit off the pitching machine this season.

God handles the cuss words

The Lord has been changing my world around me. My children are growing up, my mother is being transformed before my eyes, my grandmothers are aging, my siblings are being parents and spouses, and there have even been transitions at work. However, I look at my life, and things are still the same within my physical world. I'm still single, I'm still driving the same car, working in the same position, day to day tasks are the same. But the Lord is making His presence known and He's changing how He's revealing Himself to me, I think.

I am seeing some things with new eyes or God's going about showing me the answers differently. I haven't figured this out completely, but my spirit is different.

Tonight, my daughter revealed very disturbing news about my oldest son, right before I went to Bible Study. She told me that she has had 5 of her friends, very good kids, to tell her that my seventh grader has been known to use cuss words. She was very shocked and knew that I needed to know. No, we're not naive, it's just that we've never experienced this behavior and it's new to us.

When I found out, I was embarrassed, especially since one of the kids that told her was the preacher's daughter and that he had cussed at a youth function. But not only embarrassment, but denial that I knew he wouldn't do that. Then came the irritation that he is representing our family and that he has made me look like a bad mother. But then, I remembered, that he has heard me use inappropriate language when I was angry, frustrated, scared, or ticked off. Just when I was thinking of asking him what in the world he thought he was doing, I remembered that I would be a hypocrite to punish him for the things that he's heard me say. So, I went on to Bible Study, and on the way there, I prayed for God to help me figure out how to approach this.

I knew this was a moment that I could either blow or a moment that I could allow God to use me to teach my son. I know that I've blown it several times and I didn't want to let this life lesson, real life moment to be ruined. I would tend to be critical, harsh, and totally closed-minded about the subject. I could tell him that I expect his language to be that of what God would be OK with. But I remembered, that in my new God-conscious state, that I could be fake and holier than thou or I could be very humble and approach him with the fact that this is something that neither he nor I need to take part in. That bad language doesn't lift God up, nor represent Jesus.

I mentioned this at the end of my Bible Study to some of the girls. Of course they all had their solutions or stories about how they handled it. But I didn't want to do what the norm was, nor be led by others. I wanted God to handle this with me and my son. When I got home, there was a note on my bed. Landon evidently revealed to Will that I knew about the incidents.

In this note, Will fully admitted that he'd not been living for Jesus. When I read his letter, I was humbled by his honesty and brought to tears over his apology. Here are some of his words: "I am very sorry for being so disobedient in my actions and words." "It is that I'm not trying my best to show off what a wonderful, loving mama and family I have." "I haven't been living my life for Jesus like I should and I'm praying for self-discipline and self-control. Hoping it will come soon." "I just want you to know I'm going to try and I'm going to live for Jesus!"

WOW! God convicted Will, when he knew that I found out about his language. He was truly sorry for how he'd acted and he realized the problem. This touched me and I'm so proud. Day in day out, being a mama and being the only teacher, disciplinarian, Godly influence and parent in his life. It's exhausting, but it's all worth it. For a moment like this, it's the greatest gift, I've EVER received. I want to thank God for taking care of this and it has laid the foundation for our talk. I don't think that there's a harder job than parenting but it's the most rewarding as well.

I want to commit to having more self-control and self-discipline in my life. And I want to commit to allowing my children to make mistakes and to letting God work in them instead of me constantly having my hand and say in everything. Move me out of the way God, and do a mighty work in my children's life and in mine for Your Glory. God is so good.

I love my life!

I love my life. I have three beautiful, polite children that love me. How blessed can one girl get? My sweet boy, Will is 11-1/2 and he is getting so big. He is starting to make wise decisions, and that is a comfort in itself. I was sooo afraid that I wasn't doing my job, because I have to stay on him constantly. "Will, put your shoes in the basket, Will, did you feed the dogs?, Will, brush your teeth, Will, courteousy flush! - seriously, I say his name at least 25 times a day.

Ms. Landon is such a teenager. She is all into fashion and looking her best. From her hair, her clothes, her teeth, her shoes, her accessories, everything is perfect. I can't believe that she's mine! She adores the Jonas Brothers and Jon and Kate Plus 8. It drives me crazy, because she talks about both of them all the time. Bug I'm very proud of her academically and I know that it will take her very far, if that's what she wants and if that's what God has in store for her.

My Little Bear, Ryan, is so polite and constantly moving. He is a lover and is always giving compliments (he tells me that I'm beautiful), but on the other hand, he is demanding and can be sneaky. He doesn't forget anything and he can be aggressive...kinda like his mama.

I'm sitting in my little house listening to the rain, proud that I have the kids in bed and making a list of things that I would like to change, accomplish, and things that I would like to learn. I've made a commitment to begin to really pray for my family but also my friends. I want to be a prayer warrior. If I can't help folks with my advice, money or phone calls, I can at least pray for them.

So many of my friends are going through things. I have a friend that is a 38 year old, high school English teacher that has Huntington's disease. Another friend has a daughter that has cancer. Several friends have sick parents or have just lost their parent. Some of my family and friends are having difficulties with their businesses or having a job at all.

I'm so thankful for God's Grace and I smell new beginnings in the air. I'm actually excited. I wonder who my Lord is preparing me for and I can't wait to meet him!!!! My prayer is that he loves the Lord more than anything else, that he is brave, that he loves my children, that he is honest and loves to be loved. I can't wait! My children are fabulous and I pray for a Godly man to help me raise them. He'll need a lot of wisdom! God is so good and life is wonderful.

My weekend - Blah!

This weekend was the first weekend that all three of my children were gone. I dreaded this weekend so bad. I also secretly hoped that something would happen and that they wouldn't have to go. No such luck!

Thankfully I had plans for the weekend. My sister and I went to Superior Grill and then to see Four Christmases. The food was delicious as usual, but the movie was a BIG disappointment. The best part of it was the first part and the last 15 minutes. Vince and Reece don't have the chemistry to work together. Also in every other seen, Reece's hair looked different. That was very annoying.

I had plans to go to my company Christmas party and then over to a co-worker's house for some more festivties, but I couldn't bring myself to go by myself. It's one of those divorce stigmas that I'm still working on. I stayed in bed most of the day on Saturday and even on Sunday. I skipped church - and I always look forward to church. But that would mean that I didn't have to walk anyone to the nursery or anyone to get to Sunday School besides me.

I'm pathetic, I know. I feel like I can't operate without my children. They are definitely a crutch and I'm not sure HOW to have fun without them. A movie and dinner with my sis was fabulous, but I can't tie her up all weekend and every time the kids are gone. She has her family and a hubby that really likes to do things together. He was sad that she went to the movies without him! So, my weekend started off great, but I let the loneliness and the single thing paralyze me the rest of the weekend.

At least Landon got one of her presents early. She got her beloved green iPod Nano that she's been asking for. Daddy really came through this year. Whewww...that's one less thing off the list for me to purchase! I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. I asked Santa for a boyfriend! Maybe he'll come through for me!

This past week and weekend flew by because we were so busy. On Tuesday, we went to Ryan's brother's flag football game. We cheered him on as he played both defense and offense. At one point he almost scored. Those little legs of his carried him so fast. I was sure he was going to make a touchdown.
Church on Wednesday was terrific. I'm participating in a parenting class led by Dr. Ted Tripp. It is a biblically-based study on how to parent understanding that we react out of our heart. It helps you to focus on pointing the child to God for their heart problems instead of manipulating them to behave.
On Thursday we headed to the Zoo that was having a Wildgame Cook-off sponsored by Alabama Wildlife Federation. I tried quail, duck won tons, frog legs, venison gumbo and wild turkey bbq. It was all so good. These cooking teams really knew how to prepare the animals so they didn't have that gamey taste. This was a wonderland for Will. The kids were able to ride the carousel and pet the animals. There was a llama that was giving a little girl a kiss on the cheek.
On Friday, we rented a movie Speed Racer. What a terrible movie. I thought it would be for kids, but there were more than 5 curse words and it was poorly done. The cartoon stunk and so did the movie. While they were watching that, I was catching up on laundry and preparing for Ryan to go to his dad's for the day.
At 5:00AM, Ryan headed off with his dad and brother to go dove hunting and fishing. Ryan was excited to tell Will about the catfish he caught. And he was filthy when he got home. I had him to undress on the frontporch and head straight to the tub. Boys will be boys!
After he got home, bathed and dressed, we headed off for Atlanta for our weekend. We got to our hotel at 3:30 and checked in.