Excited For Life...

Thanks Dani for the title of this blog. I really am excited for life right now. I never thought that God would allow me to work in ministry after the choices I made right out of college. But, the AWESOME God that He is, He did. I have been able to dive in head first into all kinds of ministry opportunities and I am totally stoked about it. I just wanted to give a little shout out to my Heavenly Father for totally hookin' up my life! Thanks! :)

A Duh Moment!

So here I am at 5:30 this morning...awake. If you are close to me you know that this is very weird. I have had trouble sleeping past 5 or so lately. I have been blaming it on my husband who snores; I feel bad getting so frustrated with him because it really isn't his fault. Yet, morning after morning I lay in bed awake for an hour until the alarm goes off and then I am totally grumpy about all of the sleep I just lost. No wonder we have such rough mornings! LOL

Same story this morning accept I didn't stay in bed for that hour. I decided, well, I am not going to sleep anyway...I might as well get up and spend some time with the Lord. While I was sitting there praying and asking for a desire for Him and thanking Him for His gracious provision, it occurred to me. DUH! You have been asking for a desire to spend time with the Lord and wishing you were one of the people who got up early and here you are! Awake at 5:00am!!

I love how the Lord works sometimes. It makes me smile. I am praying that He will keep waking me up and reminding me why I am awake. I hope that everyone has a very blessed day today, I know that I will.

Sailing Into Unknown Waters...

I married my father's numero uno employee. He had worked for my dad since he was 15 and only stopped by his own choice for a year or so. I married into the ultimate job security. It was a very comforting feeling to know that my husband wasn't going to lose his job. I felt safe, secure and carefree.

Four years into our marriage, I lost my job...but that was okay. My husband still worked for daddy and another one would surely come my way. I was only worried for an hour or so and mostly I think it was just a blow to my pride. I took my time and really sought the Lord to lead me to the right path. I wasn't concerned about how long it took. I was only concerned that I ended up where He wanted me to be. It turned out to be in the opposite direction that I was headed. He picked me up, turned me around, and set me on a completely different path. Praise the Lord He did! I know that I am in the place that God had for me and I couldn't be happier.

Now, the tables have turned and my husband has lost his job. He doesn't work for daddy anymore. The downturn in the economy forced my parents to make a terribly hard decision-they had to let him go. One would think that I would have that same faith and confidence that God is leading him to something better as He did me. Guiding him to fulfill his destiny in a way that only God does. But I do not. I want to so badly, but it leaves as quickly as it comes. My heart knows that our Lord is at work, but my brain is shouting at me things like "It doesn't matter what job it is, just find one" or "There is no way that will provide enough for us."

My security that came from him working for my parents is gone. I have to trust my Heavenly Father now. I have to trust that my husband is seeking Him and listening to His voice. I have to lift him up in prayer to our Father and trust Him at His Word. Why is that so hard to do sometimes. I know I can and I desire to but the worry creeps in. I have to commit every thought and fear to Him and be in His Word so those are the words that come to mind when worry and fear and doubt raise their ugly heads and strike at me.

Oh Lord, thank you for your provision. Thank you for being there for my family and for being there to calm every worry and fear and doubt. Please guide my husband down the path that is in total obedience to You. We love and adore You! Amen.

Wisdom...It's not all about me.

I have been praying for wisdom. I am focusing on James 1 at the moment, it is awesome. I have needed wisdom about a certain thing for a very long time now. It replays in my "thought closet" all day - all of these questions - where, how, what if, i just don't know. I have been waiting for wisdom to swoop in and save the day. And today it did.

However, it didn't swoop in the way I thought it would. I was waiting for it to come from me. To all of the sudden appear in my brain and viola! Problem solved! It appeared, but it came from the mouth of another. I sought wise counsel and it totally quieted the record skipping in my head.

Thank you Lord for giving us wisdom is many shapes and voices. I can't always trust the voices in my head you know!

Hard Choices

Hard choices - life is full of them. Why are they the ones that are so important to make. Wouldn't it be nice if the easy no brainer choices that avoided all thought were the ones that made life what it should be. But, time after time and century after century it is proven that the difficult choices are the ones that are the best choices.

As I "grow up" I am finding this to be so true in life. I find myself longing for the days when my hard choices were which class to take or if it was really worth it for those $40 wrangler jeans. Now my choices are more like - Do I send the kids to public or private school...Can we go on this vacation or pay our bills on time...Do I call about this late bill or just ignore it until I can pay it...just to name a few.

Today I made a hard phone call. I have been putting it off for awhile. It was humbling and didn't provide me with an immediate answer, but it did provide me with a peace and calm inside my soul. I knew it was the right thing to do but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Life with God can be that way. When confronted with ourselves we have no choice but to just say - Yes Lord, I messed up and I need Your grace - please give me your grace. I am often tempted to view God as a Just Father - which He is. But as Just as He is, he is equally Loving and full of Grace and Mercy. I cannot fathom how justice and grace can exist in such a perfect balance and be extended to me - an unworthy sinner. Oh, how grateful I am for it. just when I think I have really done it this time, my Heavenly Father swoops in and picks me up. He is so faithful.

Why the beach is AWESOME!

I love the beach. The beach and I have had a roller coaster type relationship. I go through phases where I love the beach and others when I wonder why anyone ever goes there. As a kid I loved the beach. My family went often and I have so many wonderful memories from it. Then, as teenager, I was not so thrilled about myself so I didn't so much like the idea of me in a bathing suit in front of hundreds of people. Then as lost some weight in my senior year and college and I loved the beach again. I went all of the time - it was so relaxing to just lay there and sleep or hang out with my friends.

Then, I became a mom. With that came extra weight and my love for the beach went away. (see the pattern of self consciousness and my feeling towards the beach) I began to use my children as the excuse though because it just wasn't safe for them there. All of the cars and weird people, and not to mention all of the creepy sea life that posed a terrible threat to their safety! How silly was I that I would use my kids to hide my real excuse for not going to the beach.

I finally gave in and figured - I better let them experience it once or twice in their life or they will be missing out so one afternoon we went - and I was sold. I put aside how awful I look in a bathing suit and it was so amazing.

We went to the beach again today and I was laying there watching the 3 boys that have stressed me out to the max this week, be able to do all of the things I have been telling them to stop doing . They were finally able to run and scream and roll all over - without worrying about getting in trouble. I figured - what a freeing feeling that must be. I wondered if they even realized that was happening. The only thing that changed was the setting and that changed everything for their little worlds.

How cool will it be when we get to heaven. I wonder if our Father will sit back and just laugh seeing us be able to do everything that we always wanted to do in complete innocence and joy. Not that we will be doing things that we get in trouble for anywhere else, but just to finally be ourselves and live life forever with out all of the restrictions and limitations that our sin and this earth place on us. To live and know that we make our Father smile just being with Him.

Oh Lord, thank you that you do not hold back anything good for us. Thank you for preparing a place for us to one day just run and be in your presence and finally experience real freedom!

Fouth of July & Camping - Warning: Lots of Pics

We went camping for the 4th of July this year. It was a blast - but we did miss the fireworks! So it didn't feel quite like the 4th...but fun none the less. Here is a snap shot of our week-end. It was hot, but an extension cord and a fan make everything nice and cool!

Men at Work

Dad & Darren trying to fix the spot lights!

Dylan showing off in the golf cart. There was an awesome parade of golf carts, bikes, and wagons to celebrate the Fourth of July. That was really cool. We had a really cool family in front of us with a CD player - I think that made the walk for us.

This is our parrot friend - fun to look at but annoying to ride with. It hits the passenger in the head while riding in the golf cart. lol

What is camping with out a canoe ride...I was up front and my niece had the camera. Darren & I were the only thing pictures...besides lots of random tree shots. lol

The boys outside of the stables just after their pony ride. They found a pile of poo that grossed them out! I need to get them around stable more often!

The campfire sing along with Chip & Dale. Fun times - I forced them all to stay after the smores. Chip made poor Riley get in the picture - she tried to refuse but he wasn't having it. My guess...Chip is played by an 18-20 year old guy!

Smores!!!!

I forced them into a family photo. Once the smores where gone they were kind of over this activity! Oh -well.

I think fishing was my favorite activity - too bad we didn't catch anything and the boys broke every pole. It provided opportunity for really great pics!

I think this is my favorite picture of Dylan.

Ty & his worm. He really enjoyed the worms - I was really surprised!

Well, that is our trip in a nut shell. I would do it again in a heart beat. I hope that our family camps a lot. I think that is it good for the boys and would provide them with awesome memories as they grow up. Enough talking about growing up though...I am starting to shop for school clothes for Dylan as he starts Kindergarten in the fall....aaaaahhhhh. I ope everyone had a wonderful July 4th - I have enjoyed looking at all of your pics.

Goodnight everyone!