Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

Haven't we all heard the phrase, "Is the glass half full or half empty?" My response used to go like this, "It depends. Did the glass start out full - and then you drank half, or did you only fill it up half way?"

Now I have a brand new way of looking at things (the older I get the more my view of life changes).  I've realized that when I look at the circumstances around me from a strictly worldy perspective, I'm going to be a glass half empty kind of gal.  But when I find scriptures that address the circumstance, it's ALWAYS a glass half full (actually overflowing).

Let me give you a Biblical example: The Israelite's were freed from the bondage of slavery in Egypt (glass half full). They came to the end of the road and found themselves in a bind - angry Egyptians on one side, and the tumultuous Red Sea on the other side (glass half empty). At this point they were faced with a decision: Do we get depressed and just surrender, or do we have faith in God? They chose a glass half full by having faith in God as their deliverer.  The result: He parted the Red Sea and they walked across on dry ground.

It's our ability to have faith in God and in His promises that can turn ANY situation into a glass half full.

Just for Laughs

Here are some Christian Cartoons being sent around via email.  I loved them and wanted to share them with you:

















A special thanks goes to Reverend Fun for allowing us to use these cartoons!

On The Go Mom

The previous week flew by with a flash!  Where did the time go?  Is it really the weekend, again?!?

I am a Stay-at-home-mom, right? Absolutely NOT!

This all started because I had to fill out a new patient form this week. When I got to the question about employment I thought, I guess I need to write stay-at-home-mom, but when am I at home?

I suppose the term came about many, many years ago when mothers DID stay at home (Think of June Cleaver). They had time to bake (from scratch!), do laundry and iron, clean (to perfection), sew a new outfit, or mend something, prepare a homemade supper, etc...As if?!?

Here's the modern mom's day (one who is not working outside of the home): Get the kids up and ready for school (with a breakfast bar), drive them to school, take dog to the groomer, get a quick work out at the gym, pick up laundry from laundry mat, go to a parent/teacher conference, grab lunch on the go, have the oil changed in the van (checking emails with your Droid while you wait), get into carpool line, take kids home and help with homework, take kids to soccer game, drive two or three other kids home and then grab Chinese food for dinner, tuck kids into bed, start another load of laundry, say "hello" and "goodnight" to your husband, pack lunches, walk the dog, fall into bed exhausted!!!

The times have changed, why not our title? So, if you are an on-the-go-mom, let's unanimously change what we write on those new patient forms, or even what we say when asked, "What do you do?" From now on my response will be, "I'm an on-the-go-mom, thank you!"

Can I get an Amen!?!

The Language of Love

The language of love is a beautiful thing, when it's being spoken. Are you and your spouse speaking love to one another?

There are several books out there about the different love languages. The five most talked about are: Personal Touch and Closeness, Words of Encouragement, Acts of Kindness, Quality Time, and Gift Giving.

While the books emphasize finding our top language and then expecting others to speak it, I've learned... To keep reading this article, hop on over to Titus 2 In Action where I am the featured blogger every other Friday.

G.I.G.O.

My dad worked with computers his entire career.  As a young girl, I remember hearing him say, "G.I.G.O."  Finally I asked him what that meant.  He told me when a computer program is not working correctly, the first thing they look for is operator error.  Another words, if the operator failed to type the sequences correctly, it will fail to perform and "crash."  So the phrase means - Garbage In, Garbage out.

Doesn't this also ring true with our own lives?  If we spend more time watching the television, or listening to unwholesome songs on our i-pods, why do we seem surprised when our reaction to a crisis is not to turn directly to God? 

Feeding our spirit's with wholesome things is not just a nice idea, it's an exhortation to the church:

Philippians 4:8-9 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

This is not an easy thing to put into practice in our negative world, but it's worth the effort!

Pass the Eraser, Please!

Do you remember how easy it was to correct your work when you were in grade school? We wrote exclusively in pencil, and voila! If we messed up, we'd grab those big eraser's and before long we had a blank page to work with again.

Now I'm 43 and finding the pages of my life are written in permanent marker, not pencil. My past mistakes seem to creep up when I least expect them. Please pass the eraser.

My bathrooms need the most scrubbing power on cleaning day.  They've invented this handy little all-purpose eraser (see picture above) that works wonders on the toughest bathroom stains.  Could I try this on the stains of my past?  Pass the eraser, please.

Is there an eraser that is big enough, or strong enough to erase the past mistakes I've made? No.  But God showed me this verse in His instruction book:

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalms 103:12 (NIV)

While my past may still bear occasional consequences, and it's presence is sometimes felt, I don't need to hold onto any guilt.  The blood of Jesus has cleansed me of all unrighteousness. Jesus stands at the door to our hearts, and He alone holds the magic eraser capable of erasing our pasts.  

A Daily Journey

Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've started a new blog.  Not one I will do much time editing and critiquing, just a place to throw my thoughts.  After 7 bouts with skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma), I've felt the Lord leading me to try becoming a Vegan to see if my body will be better able to conquer these lesions on its own.  Anyhow, if you'd like to follow my daily musings, hop on over to my new blog:

My Vegan Journey 4 Health

Visit Me Here

Blogging has been a challenge for me over the past year. I've been focusing more on my personal writing, and I've been coordinating another blog called, Titus 2 In Action.

Visiting your blogs is truly encouraging and uplifting, I hope to stop by more often.

In the meantime, Please hop on over to read my bi-monthly posts called, Date Your Mate on my shared blog, Titus 2 In Action. Don't forget to leave a comment so I can come by and visit your blogs, too!

God Bless!

Thankful Thursday

It is high time I participate in Thankful Thursday again. So here goes:

1) I am thankful for the opportunity to think of five things I am thankful for!

2) I am thankful for a fabulous summer! I've enjoyed my kids, my husband, and making new friends, as well as my faithful friends. It's been amazing.

3) I am thankful for the opportunity to join the leadership team at my Tuesday morning Bible Study. I even have a new mentor named Phyllis. Our Bible study is fabulous (we did it over the summer) and I'm looking forward to sharing it with the 120 ladies this fall.

4) I am thankful that all my kids will be in school full-day this fall. My youngest will be full-day as well. This will free up time for me to write and join in as a new leader at my Bible study (see #3).

5) I am thankful for blogging. I have not been faithful to post to this blog, but I have been posting bi-monthly to Titus 2 In Action. It's a great way to share with others.

If you'd like to join in - join Greg over at Greg's general store.

Intimacy

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

What is your definition of intimacy? I recently read a phrase that wraps it up for me, into-me-see. Does that sound about right? Being intimate with someone is the closest thing two people can share - either emotionally, or physically.

As humans, we crave intimacy, but I believe most of us struggle to find it.

We long for close friendships, only to find most of them superficial.

We marry our soul mates, and then years later wonder why we aren't as intimate (or close) as we used to be.

When first saved, most new believers can't get enough time with God, but after years of being a Christian, many of us are crying out for God to ignite the flame that once burned bright. As if we need a new wick.

So how do we capture and maintain intimacy, with our spouse, our friends, and most importantly with God?

Perhaps we achieve true intimacy two ways.

First, we need to learn to be transparent - yes that means becoming more vulnerable.

Second, spend time together. The more time two people spend together, the more they begin to resemble one another, and the more they desire to be together.

Seems simple enough, so what's stopping us? Life. Busyness.

Purpose in your heart to spend time with God, and then with those you want to be more intimate with. It takes a lot of work and persistence to become intimate and keep the flame burning. The end result - relationships that are fulfilling and fruitful.

Independence

July the 4th is just around the corner. Everyone is talking about their plans to celebrate this great American holiday. Most families are planning a cookout, fireworks, and fellowship. No doubt, fun for all who chose to celebrate.


Before long my youngest child was asking me about this holiday, and inquiring about the meaning of Independence Day. While I know full well what the 4th of July represents for America, I began to ponder the word independence.

According to www.dictionary.com, the definition for independence is: Freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.

Can you see where I'm going with this? As Christians, we should be celebrating our independence from this world. The world we live in is powerful, and it's influence and control are far reaching. But as followers of Christ, we should be emulating Jesus, not this world.

I also found it intriguing that part of the definition is "support, and aid." Okay that one has me. I do look to the world for support (financially and going to doctors). I also turn to wrong worldly things to console me when I'm down (food). I definitely need to work on the area of support from the wrong source.

This 4th of July, have fun and celebrate our independence from other countries, but also remember to be independent from the pulls of this world.

I'M BORED!

Summer is finally here!  School let out and within one week we were on the road headed for Walt Disney World, Florida.  Ahhh, life seemed good. 

Vacation ended and the following week we spent at doctors appointments, and catching up on laundry and T.V., "Is this how everyone starts out their summers?"

Anyhow, next thing I knew, I had a list of summer projects on paper ready to be checked off. Life seemed good, until my son popped into the kitchen and said, "I'm bored!"

To read how this affected our family and what solutions we used, click on the link below to jump over to Titus 2 In Action where I am a guest blogger today.

It's Relational

I want you to answer a question for me.  Ready, think of something beautiful... do you have it in your mind?  Focus on it.  Now decide what made it beautiful to you.

 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Isaiah 16:7 (NIV Italics mine)

I think I trapped you with the above question, sorry for that.  But I wanted to point out how visual we are.  When I think of something beautiful it's usually a serene outdoor scene vibrant with light, color, gentle breezes and even certain smells.  It's just how we see beauty - with our five senses.

Now lets consider the kind of beauty God sees - beauty of the heart.  If someone does something with the right motive, love, and has no prideful thoughts in the process how would that look to us?  We just might miss it!  If it doesn't involve our five senses, it isn't something we pick up on very easily.

God does give us a way to view someone's heart - by getting to know them. He is a relational God and we are supposed to be relational people! The only true way to know if someone's heart is beautiful, is to be in a relationship with them. Time will reveal their true heart.

God never intended us to walk through this life alone. He wants us to be in relationship with other believers and then we are called, The Body of Christ.

Now, think of someone you know who is beautiful on the inside and tell us about them!

Support One Another

Proverbs 17:17a (NIV) "A friend loves at all times."

Proverbs 27:9 (NIV) "Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel."

Ecclesiastes 4:10 (NIV) "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

John 15:13 (NIV) "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

What is a friend? From the scriptures above, a friend loves always, a friend gives good counsel, a friend helps friends up, and a friend will lay down their life for another friend.

That's a tall order - but the benefits of having good friends is priceless!

I recently went with one of my BFF's (Kelly Combs) to see her speak at a ladies retreat in North Carolina. While she was thankful for my support, I benefited by being at the retreat, and spending time with my BFF. Both people benefit in a friendship.

Having friends will take time, and effort, and the ability to trust.  Take the time to call your friends or email them today.

Proverbs 18:24 (KJV)  "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Step Aside

Parenting is a lifelong commitment. When you have your first baby, they don't give you a manual. But rest assured, that everyone you know (whether parents or not) will offer you their version of parenting advice to help you along the way.

Even with all of the sage advice you will receive, parenting will have many different challenges along the way. Just when you begin to feel comfortable with one age or stage of parenting, your child/children will surely outgrow that stage and you are both back to square one!

To read the rest of the story, jump over to Titus 2 In Action.

Expectations

Isn't it amazing how helpless a newborn baby is.  At first they can only eat, sleep, wiggle, and a few other not so pleasant things.  Next they learn to use their limbs to reach for things, and they begin to smile and cry in order to communicate with us.  Before long they are sitting up, crawling, then taking those first coveted steps - WooHoo!

Just last week I was remembering when my clan were all young babies, so helpless and innocent.  Now my children are maturing and certainly more self sufficient. So why was there a gum wrapper on the steps for 4 days?!?

To continue reading this post, hop on over to Titus 2 In Action.

Selah - You Are My Hiding Place

This is a song that sings what my heart is feeling!

Be Flexible!

During the season of Lent, we have been doing a nightly Lenten devotion with our children.

On one Wednesday evening, the scripture was James 5:16, "Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."

We decided to go around the table and have each person confess one sin we wanted to work on... To read on, click here.  

School is NOT Over!

Most of us were perfect parents, before becoming parents ourselves.

Remember when you saw a child having a temper tantrum in a store and then thought, "If only they would just ..." We knew it all - before we were parents.

If you are reading this post, you are probably a parent. So how do you measure up today? For me, perfect parent, is not a title I would give myself. More like, totally and completely dependent on God! Can I get a witness?

Come on over to Titus 2 In Action to finish reading this post...

Thankful Thursday #63

I am joining with Greg C. over at Greg's General Store today for Thankful Thursday.   I am excited to be linking up with our new host this week!

Here's the list for me this week:

1) I am thankful for my daughter, Britt. It's her 14th birthday and she is a precious child. I couldn't have asked for a better first born daughter. She loves the Lord, her family and her friends.

2) I am thankful that my husband and I are walking hand in hand to see our first born turn 14. It's the little pleasures along the way that make my heart grateful!

3) I am thankful for our local Christian School. They are like a second family and where else can you find that? For a parent/teacher conference this week, I had one of the teachers actually come over to my house! I'm impressed.

4) I am thankful for God's Word. Studying the Bible gives me excitement and encouragement and peace at all times. I love His words.

5) I am thankful today that Greg has taken the Thankful Thursday torch and is going to be the new TT host! That blesses my heart!

If you are grateful today, then head over to Greg's blog to link up with the rest of us. We are singing God's praises!

Lent

Lent is the period of time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. While I was not raised in the Lutheran or Catholic church, my husband and I have been participating in Lent with our children for several years now.


Why do we choose to celebrate Lent?

We enjoy taking this opportunity to focus for 40 days on the sacrifice Jesus made for each one of our lives. It's also a time for us to stay focused on God as a family.

This year, instead of only giving up something (individually) for Lent, we've decided to add something in as a family. We've agreed to all read the same scripture each evening, and then come together to discuss it! I'm so excited. Now that our kids are a little older (well, most of them!) we will be able to get into some great discussions.

I am curious, do you celebrate Lent? Why or why not? What are some good Lenten ideas you've had? Please leave a comment so we can all be blessed.

Thankful Thursday - A New Location

I want to thank every blogger who has ever linked up to my Thankful Thursday post in the past.  You are awesome, and God was glorified!

After taking a blog sabbatical, I felt led to let the Thankful Thursday post go.

Thankfully, God had led Greg over at Greg's General Store, to take the Thankful Thursday torch and continue with it (with a gorgeous new TT button, too!).  So please head on over to his blog to link up.

Today, I am thankful that God has provided a new host for Thankful Thursday, Greg!

Known by the Fruit

Matthew 7:20  "Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

What kind of fruit does a Christian produce?  I have spent many hours pondering that thought.  And in one moment, my sweet, young, four year old, Tiffany gave me the answer:

My Tuesday morning Bible study group had just let out for the day, so I went to pick up Tiffany from the childcare room downstairs.  Thinking ahead, I took her to the bathroom before running errands.  While there, she said to me, "Mom, all of the kids here are NOT Christians!"

This statement threw me and I said, "Sure they are."

"Look, Mom, let me tell you why they aren't Christians. First, when we went to the gym to play, some of the girls kept trying to tackle me. Next, one boy took my necklace and tried to keep it away from me, even after I asked him to give it back to me! So you see, they aren't Christians!"

There it was...The simple answer to the above scripture. If they were Christians, certainly their fruit would have been different. The girls would have been nice and the boy would have been considerate. I am amazed that at the young age of four, children already see the fruit of Christianity.

I most certainly had been trying to complicate the scripture when in fact, it was as simple as just treating others kindly.

A Birthday Blessing

Today, February 22, 2010, I celebrate my 43rd birthday! I am so grateful to the Lord for so many things in my life and trying to list them all would take up too much space. Instead, I will share with you my favorite Psalm to celebrate God's goodness. I am especially thankful to God for calling me His child.

Psalm 139:1-18 For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you."

Seasons of Change

It's been almost one month since I felt led to take a blog sabbatical.  The time has flown by! For those who were wondering, I am not working on a book.  I have been working on my articles and devotions, though. 

It has been a sweet time with the Lord.  My husband and I focused on the Lord and on His leading in our lives. We also ended up with almost two straight weeks with the kids at home, due to the snow. The meteorologists said that we have had more snow here in Virginia than in Buffalo New York!  Crazy winter.

I've missed visiting with all of you, and reading your encouraging comments.  I look forward to reconnecting with you all over the next few weeks.  I will be taking it slow as I need to stay focused on my "writing for publication" goal.  At this time, I am not ready to recommit to Thankful Thursday's postings.  Perhaps some time in the future I will take it on again, but for now I need to keep it light and loose. 

If you're here reading this post, leave me a comment so I can re-connect with you!

Acts 2:28  "You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence."

A Blog Sabbatical

In following God's lead to focus on my writing, I am taking a blog sabbatical.  I am not sure for how long.  I will miss all of you, and your comments.  Thank you for encouraging me over the years.  I hope to be back, but only God knows my future in bloggie land.

If you'd like to stay in touch with me, my personal email address is:

razn6@netzero.net

I will still be posting to my parenting tips column over at Titus 2 in Action twice monthly. I'd love to hear from you over there.

God bless you!

Thankful Thursday #61

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week:

1) I am thankful that God has given me Tim as my husband. He knows how to love me, hold me, protect me, and esteem me. He makes me feel like the only woman in the world - like a princess.

2) I am thankful that God has called me. I don't deserve to be called, and God knows that - He made me and knows all about me, and He loves all of me. There's nothing hidden from my Abba Father and it's ok, He loves me.

3) I am thankful for my children. I have been blessed with six amazing children. I value the relationship that I have with each one of them.

4) I am thankful for my extended family. They are all Christian's and that is a privilege! They are great supporters and encouragers.

5) I am thankful for my friends. God has blessed me with some special ladies that I can confide in and who love on me. I enjoy every minute I spend with them.

After prayer and much deliberation, I've decided to take a blog sabbatical. I don't know for how long. I've enjoyed meeting all of you and I will miss you and Thankful Thursday. I've noticed recently that many of you put up two links for TT. Be sure to share the other link because my hope is that you will all hop over to the other Thankful Thursday blog and begin linking up there on Thursday's. I will be focusing on writing for publication. I feel that I will be back, I'm going to follow God's lead on that one. Thank you for your faithfulness and support.

Got Talent?

If you've been a church goer than you've probably heard the story of the talents.  If you want to reference it, look in Matthew chapter 25.  I will sum it up here. 

There was a rich man who was going on a trip so he called together his three servants.  To one he gave 5 talents, to the next 3 talents, and finally he gave the remaining servant 1 talent.  They were to watch over these talents while he was away. 

When the ruler returns, the servant who had been given 5 invested the talents and was able to return 10 to the master. They servant who was given 3 talents did the same and returned 6 talents to the master.  The servant who was given 1 talent, gave the master this story of being afraid of the master so he buried the talent and returned it to the master.

Needless to say, the master was angry with the servant who was given one talent because he didn't use it, so the talent was taken away from him and given to the one with 10 talents.

At my writer's meeting (Richmond Christian's Who Write), they described the talents as being gifts (like writing). We've all been given at least one talent.  God expects us to use it/them for His glory.  For all of you writer's reading this:  If you've written something then carefully put it away in a drawer (or it's lost on your hard drive) - that's not using your talents!  You've buried it. 

I want to be like the other two servants, who gained a return for their talents.  It's a new year, and we have new opportunities to be used (published) by God.  I am going to submit more articles this year because I want to glorify God with my talent.  I hope you resolve to do the same with your talents.

I'll leave you with this quote by Oliver Holmes, "Don't die with a song still in your heart."

Thankful Thursday #60

I am sorry but something is not working with Mr. Linky today!  Please leave a comment to link up until the issue is resolved.

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week:

1) I am thankful that my Sunday (Sabbath) was peaceful and relaxing. For the first time, in a long while, my whole family played games, threw the football, and just had a wonderful day. Now this is a goal I will have for future Sundays.

2) I am thankful for the opportunities we have because we live in America. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to become who we want to become. The sky is truly the limit in this country. Thank God for America!

3) I am thankful that most of the snow has melted (Don't mention this one to my kdis!). It was fun, but I'm so over it!

4) I am thankful that I've lost 3 pounds my first week of doing Weight Watchers! It is such a great program!

5) I am thankful that I am doing a Beth Moore Bible study on Daniel. I'm already learning so much, and we've only done two weeks! This stuff is so rich and filling!

Limits - Good or Bad?

The first day back to school, after the long Christmas break, went well. I had gotten up on time and everyone seemed motivated to stay on task. I was armed with my new schedule and the drive to stay focused.

The day flowed without any interruptions - until the kids came home from school. Filled with information about their first day back, they all began talking to me in unison. It was as if they hadn't spoken for hours and then someone uncapped them, all at once! Chaos suddenly surrounded me!

To read the rest of this post, follow me over to Titus 2 In Action.

A Blog Award - Just for fun

While I don't usually participate in blog awards, I thought it might be a fun change.

Tiffany, over at Happily Ever After, has awarded me the Beautiful Blogger award. I am supposed to tell you seven interesting things about myself and then nominate seven other blogs for the award.  If you are reading this and would like to participate than consider yourself nominated!  All of your blogs are fabulous!

Here's my list of seven interesting things about me (ok, they will probably only be interesting to me!)

1) If I had to choose between a chocolate goody or a handful of chips, I would pick the chips every time.

2) I'm happiest when I'm singing.  If the radio is on and I like the song, I feel compelled to sing along.

3) I have a secret dream - Move to Tennessee and get a job working for Thomas Nelson Publishing.  (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)

4) I joined Weight Watchers last week, and when I got to the meeting there were several of my classmates who had come to join, too!!!  We laughed about that one - The class of '85 is over 40 and over weight!

5)  I don't have a favorite color.  Growing up I would say that rainbow was my favorite, but I suppose that doesn't really count.

6)  I have always hated the analogy, "Is the glass half empty, or half full?" My philosophy, "If you started with a full glass, then it's half empty, if you only filled it up half way than it's half full?  DUH!"

7)  Science was and still is my favorite subject, history - my least favorite. (I HATE the history channel. But hubby and oldest daughter LOVE to watch it. - TORTURE!)

Ok, that was fun (for me!) so I hope you decide to join in.  I'd love to learn 7 interesting things about YOU, so leave a comment and let me know you joined in!

Enjoying Sunday's

Remember the sabbath to keep it holy.

This is one of the 10 commandments.  So why does it seem to be the hardest one for me to keep?  I would gladly take one day of the week off to relax and focus on God, just not Sunday!  This is the day I use to prepare for my week.  To do the last minute things I need to do for my Monday.  But it's wrong - a sin.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to write down everything I "do" on Sunday, and then plan to "do" these things on Saturday's.  I'm determined to learn how to keep this commandment.  How do you prepare for Sundays?

Thankful Thursday #59

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! If you'd like to participate, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next write down five things you are thankful for this week. Finally, come back here and link up with Mr. Linky. It's that easy!

Here's my list for this week:

1) Happy New Year! I am thankful that it is 2010 and it is a fresh new year. I look forward to facing the good and bad of the year with the Lord.

2) I am thankful that during this extremely COLD season, my house is cozy warm. I have a fireplace which adds to the overall warmth. I am blessed to have a home and warm clothes for myself and my family.

3) I am so excited to be in a new Beth Moore Bible study on Daniel. I went to my first meeting (150 women!) and it was amazing. I can't wait to see what the Lord wants to tell me (and the other 149 women) over the next 10 weeks.

4) I am thankful for our Christian school. It is a nurturing environment with a loving staff and devoted families. God is good.

5) I am thankful that my Ashley is turning 8 on Saturday! She is number 5 (out of 6) and a pure delight. Soft spoken and loving, she is a joy to be around. God bless you, my daughter with a wonderful year ahead.

New Year, New Opportunities

I am writing this post on the first Monday of 2010.  Having the chance to start fresh because it is a new year is quite refreshing.

For me, I've bought my new Franklin Planner, and I've established attainable goals for my 2010.

Next step, getting up on time and staying on schedule - ALL DAY!  Ok, this is where I tend to fall short.  I can become so easily distracted by this or that.

What's a homemaker to do?  GUARD MY TIME.

I've learned that I have to guard my writing time, my cleaning time, my appt. time if I hope to be successful.

I pray that as you are reading this, God will give you the strength you need to guard your schedule and be successful in 2010.

If you have any tips for staying on task, please share them with me (us).  We can learn so much from one another.