Babies!!!!!

I have been serving in the nursery the past 3 Sunday nights and have been loving it!!!! The babies are soo sweet and I enjoy them so much! It is such a blessing to get to feed, rock and even pray for them!

I have to admit, I miss the baby stage!!! Keylan is going to be 4 in 21 days!! His b-day is on the 20th of October! I still can’t believe he is growing up so fast. Where does the time go?? I remember the first few months. My stepmom stayed with us for the first 2 weeks but I remember thinking, please don’t leave me alone with him!!!! What would I do? When would I sleep? I was reading some of your blogs about being new moms. I sooo remember those days of figuring out that it was OK to not have the house spotless or the laundry done in a timely manner! Or how about not freaking out when the kid makes a mess because they are KIDS!!!!  I think that was the hardest for me. Accidents do happen and it is NOT the end of the world. But I survived and I think it is safe to say, Im doing a pretty good job.  Now Key is about to be 4… Geesh!

One thing I learned when I was a new mom was to enjoy every moment because time goes by fast and I can honestly say that was the best advice ever!! Every little moment of every day is a new experience and each holds priceless opportunities to know the person God entrusted us with better. Children are truly a blessing from the Lord!

FAITH…..

 

So I have been working on this post for a while now.. I am finally letting it go!!

 FAITH.. I Just finished my first ministry school class (Principles of Faith) and Pastor Steve just finished a series on When Faith Fails. I have learned soooo much in the past month about the subject. I thought I knew what faith was but now I KNOW that I KNOW that I KNOW what it is.. LOL  I am becoming more aware of .. OK am I actually having faith for this or when I don’t see it, do I try to fix it myself? Now that my knowledge of the subject has become so deep, I feel like my faith has actually stepped up a notch. What a wonderful feeling that is. If I was administrative, I might give you an outline but thats NOT going to happen LOL.

On another note, So many things have started to happen to me emotional and spiritually since I started ministry school. It’s almost indescribable. It makes me happy! I enjoy learning about the Word in a school setting. It is so very interesting (of course it is!) and I don’t mind putting hours into it! It renews my excitement for being a Christian in ways I didn’t realize it would… But It has definately been a fight in some ways also. And even though there are struggles, through it all, I am learning about what is rightfully mine and to be ready to fight for it. It’s been great!!!

HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY!

I just thought I would send out a miscellaneous post about being happy. God is soo awesome! I have SOOOOOOO many things to be thankful for…. I could write a list but I don’t know how specific I should get on here. 

I know some of you who read my post are happy too! Let’s be happy together! Write me a comment!

Ask and you shall receive..

In my last post I mentioned applying for another job in my company. They offered the job to me. I went ahead, took a chance and asked for more money before I accepted it. I was thinking about how Pastor Steve says that if you are a tither and a giver, you should be getting a raise when your company is laying off (they are in some places) or when noone else is, so I went ahead and asked. I mean the Word says Ask and you shall receive. Needless to say, increase is given to me! And it was! My manager mentioned they did not want to give me any increase since it is a lateral move. ( Im ready for something different) So not only did they give me extra but I asked for more and they gave me more!!!! Praise God!!!!!

SOOOO SOOOO BUSY!!

OK so we have been home a while now but it just seems I can’t get quite enough time to get something published on my blog page. Me and Keylan had a great mini vacation. Got to spend some time with the Fam and ate entirely too much. Your typical vacation.  Here’s a picture of me and my sisters.

So now its back to the normal routine, which honestly has been a little crazy. We had the health fair at church last weekend which was awesome!!!  I gave blood which felt good because I was not allowed to give for the last year because I went on the mission trip to Costa Rica… I also got a chair massage! Did I say that was GREAT!! I think my favorite part was talking to and getting to know some of the women at church that I don’t really have a chance to talk to. I LOVED it!!! There are soo many great people at my church and not enough time to get to know everyone.  

 In the meantime as a leader in the bookstore, I have been put in charge of getting the volunteer list together for the Dominion by the Word Conference!!!  I am very excited about that. It has been life changing every year!! And it is sure to be another great year!! Go Pastor Steve!!!

 Then to top things off, I am getting ready to go to ministry school starting next month!! I must admit it’s a little scary to me but I know this is what God wants me to do and I am totally psyched!!!! 

 I know I know more and more. I had a thought not to long ago how I wasn’t doing much except going through the same old routine. I felt stagnant. Well needless to say, I don’t feel that way anymore! But honestly I like to have things going on, I like to keep my brain in motion. Speaking of that, I actually applied for a new job at work also. I guess when it rains, it pours..  

Well until my next blog…………

On the road again..

Me and Key are going home to PA on Thursday. We are really excited!!!! He is counting down the days and I figured once the driving is over, I will be just as excited. My entire family is there (except my aunt and her family). So It will be nice to see everyone. The last time I was home was in February when we had a surprise 50th anniversary party for my grandparents. This time, we are having a “party” for my dad and stepmom. They both turned 50 this year. So this should be an interesting trip. YAY

Keylan and my daddy

Was just thinking….

Don’t think I have mentioned it but my mom wants nothing to do with me. I know it sounds sad but over the years, I have come to terms with it.  We used to be close for the most part, especially after I moved here to NC about 12 years ago. Then after about 13 years or so (thats rounding) she decides to leave my stepfather. Ok Im thinking.. where did this come from?

Well I guess if Im going to tell the story, I should start from the beginning….. When I was 8 my mom cheated on my father with his best friend and got pregnant and married him (who I ended up taking in as my stepfather) So she is married to him for quite a while, tells me she is not happy, dont know why since every man she married took excellent care of her. She leaves him for a younger man. Ok so here is where the drama begins (if you think it has, you have no idea) Me? I visit her while she is living with this man, not sure how to act, or what to say because I’m still in kinda shock about the whole situation. WELL I guess I did not react the way she wanted because she stopped talking to me for a few years. Yeah it hurt but what could I do?  The thing is the men my mom hurts are not bad men. This particular one knew it was wrong to disown you children (because all 5 of us have been at one time or another ) and gets her to communicate with me again. So I had my mom back for a season. I eventually had Keylan and things were good for a while.

Well last year I went to Costa Rica. My son was up North with my dad and stepmom. I had to make arrangements for my mom to see him using my sister since my mother has an issue with the family STILL. Well I guess the time she was getting was not good enough for her. She ended up not seeing him and leaving me a nasty message. Needless to say, I got back home from an awesome trip to that wonderful message. I just deleted it and decided to call her when I would be nice and act like the Christian I am. SOOOOO when I did call her back, she refused to talk to me. I continued to call and leave messages, send her pictures of Keylan and do whatever I thought was best for me to do… And here it is a lil over a year later and she still won’t talk to me. Not only that but I sent her a mother’s day card and told her I was praying for her and the “devil” came out of her. She sent me the most upsetting letter I have ever received. I mean imagine getting hatemail from you mother. It was even worse than I make it seem.  I knew I was being attacked and it bothered me for a second but I came to terms with that fact that she has been believing lies for all these years that the enemy has been feeding her and I knew getting upset about this letter was what the enemy wanted me to do..  So I burned the letter and prayed for my mother and still do.

I did learn something, stuff like this is so much easier to go through when you have Jesus.

Your patience will be rewarded!!!!

Today I recieved an email from a very dear friend asking me how me and Keylan were doing. At the end of this email was…..

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

  

Thought for the Day:            Your Patience Will Be Rewarded.
 Reflection for the Day:         The Vision Remains Intact.
 
Habakkuk struggled with the conditions that faced Judah and even more so that God seemed not to care.  He challenged the Lord and tried to understand why the Chaldeans appeared to act without any limits.  The Lord did respond, informing the prophet that He was quite aware of the situation and that He remained in control.  Judah simply had to exercise patience for full deliverance was coming.  They would not be disappointed.

WOW did I need this today. How many things in my life I want to happen NOW. OHH how I want to know everything God has for my life now, how I want to be married now, have more babies now, I want to buy a house now…….and the list goes on. I get so discouraged when things don’t look like they are heading in the direction I think they should go or at the speed I want them to be in. I am learning so much about how I have to look past what I see and reflect on what I know God promises me, not only in His Word but in the Word that he is giving me in my prayer time. I need to continually remind myself of what I know, not what I see or feel. Just take my faith to another level. Its easy to have faith in the times when things are going our way but to really step out and say I trust you Lord, no matter what it looks like, no matter what Im going through can be a challenge sometimes. But this devotion just encouraged me to keep on pressing on and know that my patience will be rewarded and God’s plan for my life will come to past in HIS timing.  

 

 

 

 

 

YOU make HIM happy

I am having a hard time dealing with some things lately. I spend alot of time crying out to God to take some of the feelings I have been having away so I can keep my focus on the things I need to be focused on. It seems I am a little insecure and I find myself again being shown by my son something that is very obvious, well it should be obvious, but yet I am oblivious to it. This probably makes no sense but I am just venting a little bit. Children are a blessing. Not only are they a blessing but when we are second guessing ourselves or just need God to show us something, God can use them to show us what we are missing at the exact moment we need it.   

I can do all things….

So me and Key are at the park, throwing the ball back and forth and he says “I can do all things through Christ” Of course you can, I tell him!!!! And we continue to play…. So just about everyday he is quoting this very important verse, which is awesome!

So this morning, I ask him to put on his shoes… I can’t he tells me….. I say “you can do all things through Christ!” He wants to argue but doesn’t. And it makes me think about how we as grown ups are the same way. We are quick to say I can do all things through Christ when it is easy or something we WANT to do but what about the times when it is something we really don’t feel like doing …. Do we happily say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?” Something to think about……