God is Good

We had our ladies meeting tonight, and as always, Ms. Kim did so good. (It was all God though, of course!) It was about Leah, but ended up being about Jacob. The thing that stayed with me the most, was about how your sin not just affects you, but everybody else around you. And it is "miraculous" how my past Sunday school lesson was also about the same thing. I can't understand some of the things that go on, and why they happen, but what I do know is that God is totally in control. And if we leave it to Him, He will get us out of whatever it may be. I truly believe that God prepares us for whatever may come our way. We just might not follow His lead, and that's when things start going wrong, and it doesn't just affect us, it affects everyone else around us. I know that when you're happy, we are all happy with you. But when you're hurting, we all hurt, and you wouldn't believe how it affects us. It's like it's happening to us. I can't explain it. You have the knot in your throat, the pounding hard of the heart, the teary eyes, and all you want to do is to make it all better. But we can't. And that is the hardest part, to sit back and watch everyone go through life the way they chose to. I know that we don't always make the best choices, but we need to strive to. We need to be the best examples that we can be................all eyes are on us.

Our Church Family

We went on visitation today, and there were so many of us there that it was amazing. Well more like a blessing. We went on our church bus, it was hot, but it was nice for everyone to be together. Afterwards, we went to eat, and it was also very nice to see most of us there. Ms. Kim mentioned how its nice, because we are all like a big family. And it made me think about how we are so much like a family. When something good happens to one of us, every one's excited. When someones sad, we all feel it. We're even like siblings and fuss and argue, even get frustrated with each other sometimes. But through it all, we love each other. Since being in this church, I can honestly say that I now have a heart. Before it was so hard for me to even care about what was going on, and know my heart aches for my fellow church members. Like when Sal wasn't there for our little bbq, he was missed because he knows all about the games we play, and everyone knows he would totally win that game. Or when Eva and Tony don't show up for visitation, you just have to wonder where they're at because they're always there. Or if Janie wouldn't make her famous desserts, its like what happened? And now if Lucy wasn't around, there wouldn't be any pictures taken. If Sharon wasn't there, we probably would run out of food, because she always brings enough to feed an army. If Ms. Kim weren't there, who would play the piano, and paint, and cut the grass, and just put up with all of us. Same goes for Bro. Mark, who would we have to preach, and take the lead and do it decently and in order. Who would take Sals' pit, if my husband weren't there? Who would tell us stories of old, if the Odonalds weren't there. Saragrace wouldn't of gotten her oreos, if Zeke and Sandra weren't there. I mean the list goes on and on, and thank God that it does. Before I would be able to name each and every church member, but now there are so many of us, that it would take about 3 postings to do this. (Who knows, maybe I will later.) And though we're all different, we all bring something good to our little church. So for those of you who might want to give up, or just have had it, don't forget about us. How we all think about each and every one of us, and how we're needed and appreciated in many ways. We're human, and imperfect in every way. But I think that we have so much fun just the way that we are.

Tupperware

Have you ever noticed how some women hate to lend out their Tupperware? It might not even be the actual brand name Tupperware, but it's Tupperware! I am one of these women. This morning my husband wanted to take one of my Tupperwares to work. He's looking through the cabinets and says "can I take one of these?" I look at him and say "I guess!" So he starts fitting his oatmeal in my Tupperware, and before he closes it, I told him he could use a Ziploc bag instead. He tells me, "nah, I got it closed." So I told him that I didn't want him taking my Tupperware to work. And he looks at me and tells me, "you don't even use them anyway." Can you believe this!? I know that this would be the last time I ever see that piece of Tupperware again if he takes it to work. He would never bring it back! He said he would, but of course I don't believe that. So I was just wondering if there were any other crazed out, Tupperware lending, Nazis' (lol @Sal) out there? I don't think that I'm the only crazy one. Oh and by the way, he took the Ziploc bag to work. My husband, I love him, but he can forget about taking my Tupperware anywhere!

The LION

This is Davids' lion. This lion has been through a lot! (Can you tell?) It is his favorite thing in the whole world! He has to have it, ALL THE TIME! The lion first came into his life when he was about 7 months old. My mother-in-law bought it for him and put it in his first Easter basket. He lost it one time, and we were out like a search party, late at night, with flashlights, looking for this thing! We couldn't find it, so we went home, (we were at my in-laws) and when we got home, he cried A LOT! He would say that he needed it and couldn't sleep without it. Even my husband wanted to cry. (He probably did, but I don't remember!) My husband would say, "that's his best friend!" Anyway, David finally fell asleep, and by this time, my husband and I are calling every Wal-Mart in the valley, but no one carried them any more. Early in the morning, before any one woke up, my husband went back to look for the lion. He drove around my in-laws neighborhood, and what do you know?! He spotted the lion! A dog had it! So, of course, my husband went to get the lion away from the dog, (my husband the hero!) He got home, and we washed, sanitized, and did everything that we could to save that lion. So when David woke up, and saw it, he was very happy! Ever since that incident, our mission was to find as many lions as we could. And we did, we found a lot of them! Most of the lions are from Louisiana, (because Melinda found most of them and bought them all), so now David has lots of lions. We will never go through that again! This picture is not of the original lion, the original is put away, smelly and dirty just the way he likes him. But during the lions' battle with the dog, the lion lost his nose. Since the original doesn't have a nose, neither does any of the others, David decided that he wanted them all to look the same, so he took the nose off of all of them! And by the way, I didn't take this picture for this post, David wanted his lion to look cool so he put the glasses on him, and wanted a picture taken of him, so this was taken awhile back! He loves his lion!

My Teacher Said.....

Today I picked David up from school, and as he's getting in the car, he immediately tells me, "I didn't cry today!" Which is a good thing, because he had been crying saying that he wanted to be with me. So anyway, he also shows me a bag of candy that his teacher gave him, and said he got it for being good. So we get home and he asked if he could have one, I said "yes but only one." Well we finished eating lunch and he tells me, "my teacher said I could eat the candies." I said, " I told you no more candy." He starts telling me a story on how his teacher told him it was ok, that's why she gave it to him, on and on and on. It's pretty funny, but it's also an eye opener, because he is listening to everything that his teacher says, and she might say something that I don't need for him to learn. (So of course, this is where we come in as parents and teach him differently.) He tends to say that a lot. "My teacher said to sign this, my teacher said to wear this, my teacher said to stop crying, my teacher said I could bring my lion, my teacher said that we couldn't do that........." and the list goes on. It does make me realize, that he is small, but he listens to what everybody says. He's just so funny. But it's not always "my teacher said," you can also hear him singing his Sunday school songs, and repeating the verses that he has learned. These kids truly are like sponges.

Work Saturday

Today was our work Saturday at church, and it was great! We had so many of our young people there, that the work got done so fast. I can't stress it enough, it was great! The yard usually gets cut by Ms. Kim, and if there's a work Saturday, nobody shows up, expect for our family and Ms. Kims family. (I'm not bragging, its for the Lord!) It always takes us a long time to finsih doing everything, but today it went so smooth. Everything was done in about an hour and half. It was a blessing to have everyone there. Of course I have to thank Eva, because she's the one that had all the kids there, but I have to especially thank the kids, because if they were like most teens, they wouldn't be caught dead cleaning up the church or cutting the grass. They would be sleeping in late, or just out with their friends. So thanks kids. You really made our day. My husband, Ms.Kim and I, got to take it easy today. It was really nice. Most people just go to the services and leave. They don't ever stop to think about what's going on behind the scenes. Who's cutting the grass? Who's cleaning the church when the rotation list is over? Who decorates? Who pays the bills? Who fixed the toilet? Who painted the walls? We could all be one of these people, and do something great for the Lord. Not for the reward, or for the praise, but for the Lord.

I DID IT!

Today was a day like no other. Why? Well I actually let Ms. Kim come inside my house. This might sound like its not a big deal, but for me, it's a very big deal. I'm not one to let people come to my house. (But you all should know this, because Bro.Mark told everybody on Wednesday night! LOL) I have always been this way. I don't know why. (If people do come over, we're usually outside, no joke, really we are.) I think it goes back to when we were small and my mom also didn't invite anyone over, and if my dad would invite people over, my mom would disappear, leaving my dad to entertain. I hope that most of you don't find it offensive, but that's just the way that I am. I don't mind going over to other peoples' houses, I enjoy having fellowship, I JUST CAN'T DO IT. Maybe in time, I'll come around. But for the mean time, "no, you can't come over!" (lol) And before you hear it from him, yes Sal came over, and I even fed him..... baby steps is what I call it. So for those of you that don't know me, I hope that you don't think that I'm the rudest, meanest person in the world. Everyone has their own thing, and this one just happens to be mine. But anyway, this is a big accomplishment for me. So be happy with me.

A Week Later...

Today is a week since I started my "diet", and I am very happy to inform everyone that it has gone great! I didn't weigh myself last Tuesday, when I started, but I did on Friday. And this morning I weighed myself and I have lost 4 pounds! I am so excited! Keep praying for us people! The pain from walking is finally going away, and Ms.Kim and I are walking a bit faster now (lol), even though I have to actually run to catch up with her, since she has these looong legs! Again, pray for us! Thanks.

My Son, the President

My son Mikey is in the sixth grade at Vela Middle School. He has always liked school, and he likes to be involved. This year there isn't any sports, that he knows of, that a sixth grader can participate in, so he decided to join the Student Council. For those of you that don't know, student council is like the government that runs the school, or in his case, runs the sixth grade. Well I just found out that he ran for student council president, and he made it! He's very excited, and can't wait for the after school meetings and activities that they will be having. So pray for the president, he could make a world of difference for his sixth grade class!:)

Another Day

Ms. Kim and I went walking this morning, and I have the battle marks to prove it! This is my third day walking, and man oh man, I hope there is a fourth. My legs are killing me, and Ms. Kims' top part of her foot, is hurting her. (She says its cuz we're old, but... I don't think its that!) Would there be an easier way? I don't know what else to do, besides sewing my mouth shut, but if there's anything less drastic, I would like to know about it.
But we must go on, and we will. (I don't know for how long though!!) So keep praying for us.

On a diet

Well today is the second day that I have been on my diet. (We'll see how long this one will last!) I started walking and eating right, and just drinking water, and I got to say, with that one day, I did wake up feeling a lot better. I was able to sleep last night, and this morning, I wasn't as tired. I think its all the coke that I usually drink that makes me feel so ugh. But anyway, Ms.Kim was supposed to start with me yesterday, and like you all have read, SHE DIDN'T!! But she did go walking with me this morning. So pray for both of us. We are supposed to be using each other to help keep us motivated, but if she keeps eating KFC, I can just forget about it!

Excited

I am excited about the preaching that went on today. There was singing, shouting, testifying, preaching, it was all great! It was good to be in the house of the Lord!

Great Times

We got home late last night from Ms. Jeanies' house, and after all the party poopers left, we had a great time of fellowship. It's so nice to be able to sit around and just talk and enjoy each other. When I first started going to church, I thought that we were never going to have any more fun, because we had "given up" everything that we used to do, all the stuff that we thought was fun! (I know that God was looking out for us the whole time we were lost, because there were many times that we should of never made it back home. But by the Grace of God, He let us live many more days, so that we could receive Him as Saviour.) After a while, we started fellowshipping with the church, and it was unbelievable! I never knew that we could have so much fun with people that went to church, and we didn't miss the other stuff anymore. I lost "friends", but gained so many more than I ever had before!
I thank God for giving us the chances that He did, and for placing us where He has, and letting us have so many wonderful people that we can share ETERNITY with. So to the church, thank you for being the people that you are. Keep living for the Lord, our race is almost run!