The Things I Don't Want To Do

The things I don't want to do....

Too many to list, really. I was reminded today that I am forever telling my kids that we all have to do things in this life that we don't want to do. Then when it comes to the things that I don't want to do, well, let's just say that there are lots and lots of them that I am pretty good at not doing.

I have changed my schedule up at the mat in an experiment to be able to take care of things that I need time to take care of, like nurturing my growing business and taking care of hearth and home and the things that God has blessed us with. Also *cough* carving out time for physical activity. Bleck.

I was going to tell you that today, I did one of those things that I didn't want to do but as I am writing this, I realized that I did THREE things, NO, FOUR things I didn't want to do. Praise the heavens, there is hope for me yet! I 1.)Got up and took the kids to school 2.)Went to the gym 3.)Ate fruit 4.) Cleaned the van. This is a big task when you live in a normal place, but when you live in a place that does not yet have a proper driveway - it can be pretty daunting to clean up after all the getting in and out of dirty feet. Not to mention eating on the way to here or there and just general living.

As I was doing my best to do that which I don't want to do, God was kind enough to show me a stack of opportunities that I miss when I decide not to do that which I do not want to do.

As I put my hands on things to clean, move, stock or listen to, I was blessed with the memory of where they came from and prompted to send up special prayers for each. I had to refill my Tissue Cozy and prayed especially for the friend who made many of these in the wee hours during her heaviest grief after losing her daughter. I changed out my mirror dangly and hung the lovely wooden cross and prayed especially for the friend that gave it as part of her testimony after losing her husband. I keep the mirror danglies aka my 'sparklies' in a lovely wood box with a verse from Joshua and I sent a special prayer up for the friend who led me in a study of Joshua. I prayed especially for a friend who is touched by music and knows that I am too so she felt compelled to gift me her favorite new CD (2 actually). Finally, I prayed especially for my favorite worship leader who writes and sings songs that are straight from and for my heart ~ one of the rare instances I actually buy a CD rather than download the album.

And +of course+ the music was blaring the entire time! You are welcome neighbors.



Today, my special prayer for you is that you find the blessings in doing the things you don't want to do.

A Lesson In Godly Friendship ~ A BFF Chat Transcript

BFF: .....when you look at it through God's eyes
you are going to be able to see that 'greater love has no man than this... that he lay down his life for a friend"
you are getting to sacrifice for your husband.
you have the honor of laying your life down for him
and what satan would have you do is to focus on getting your needs met
instead of trusting that God will meet all your needs according to his riches in Christ's glory

S4J: you are being rude.

BFF: (that was a bunch of stuff that earns me a punch in the nose)

but honestly, that is the truth and you know it
every time it goes through your head that people aren't meeting your needs or considering you, you need to take those thoughts captive because satan is trying to take from you the joy of serving your husband

S4J: you have left me with no choice but to order pizza
with extra cheese
and pepperoni

BFF: of this great sacrifice you made for him...

HAHAHA

...and he is using the same thing that you did to bless your husband as a device to make you bitter toward him
so remember that you are not fighting your husband
you are fighting satan
when hubby asks you to walk one mile, you are going to walk two.
and then satan loses
and God can be in charge of what you need

S4J: you have lost your mind

BFF: hahaha. i have not.
you know i am right.
you know it as well as i know you would say the same to me
because i love you




Blessings on your day my friends,

Old School Shout Out

This one goes out to S4J's BFF HisGirl.


Please ignore the video. Just listen to the song.

Vloggin It Up

I think I am going to do one big post about all of our adventures cause I can't seem to organize my thoughts just yet. For now, I direct you to HisGirl's posting of our vlogs.

Well. Okay. Yeah. Hm.

Let's face it. I am a cold fish. Truth be told, I prefer it that way. Emotions are messy. So, what on earth made me think it would be fun to drive for 6 hours to see my dear friend celebrate wedding nuptials? The same friend who I have walked with since the moment her young husband died and left her with 2 young children 4 years ago. The same friend who I have watched praise the Lord that she did not grieve as those who have no hope. The same friend who I watched as she slowly, with fear and trembling yet beautiful hope, open her heart to the possibility of new love. I couldn't even make it through the rehearsal this afternoon without turning into a mess. I don't like it people. Tomorrow I will watch a man, a good man who's eyes sparkle when he looks at her take her hand and accept the gift of her beautiful heart. I will watch him accept the hands of her children and promise to love them as he loves her. I am feeling absolutely overwhelmed at the intensity of my joy and hope for her and her future. I don't cope well with this level of emotion. It feels like an assault and apparently, I did not behave well as a result. I wonder if I could watch the video of the wedding from my closet with a box of tissues and some chocolate chip cookie dough truffles where no one could see me. And then I could just stay there for like a week while I recover my composure. I think that's reasonable.


Come high noon tomorrow, if you do not see me at the Chapel ~ I will be here. Hiding. My new house for the next 2 nights...




They graciously offer this water bottle right in your room. They claim it will relax and refresh you for only $1.50 but I checked the ingredients list and nowhere did it say "valium" or "medicinal marijuana" so I do not believe the claims.


Ps - Tomorrow I get to post a couple of the Bridal Portraits I took of her. :)

Blessings on your day,

No Time!

Lordy! Busy day! I have only time to put up some pics from today. I will try to do more as we go, but geesh. I just don't know. Maybe Whimzie or Hisgirl will have a better story about today with more details...


These are what fun look like. What a wonderful day and I have made a stack of memories that will touch my heart and make me smile in the future.



I am blessed to know these women. And look how sweet they are to me....

No Good Title.

I have this friend. She loves me. Exactly me. In the world of understanding me, she is only second to God. ALL of me. And loving me. ALL of me. She doesn't ask me to put down who I am, or to stop being who I am or to change who I am (or any parts thereof) because she loves who I am and she loves to be with the me who is who I am. In her love, she joins me in my muck, but never lets me stay there. She points me to the Cross when I look to the flesh. She is that person who would drop her life upon one simple request to come to my side (and has), and she is THAT person that you would WANT to drop their life to come to your side because you know she will make things better for having been there rather than be another person you have to care for and she will never make you feel burdened or guilty for the great sacrifice it takes.

She is on her way here. I will have her full-time for a week. A week of merriment, MIRL's, festivities and a whole lot of being ME.

I heard an interesting theory about Paul the Apostle in Bible study yesterday...the basic point that I took away from it was that Paul was looking for just the right way to describe what he wanted to describe and had to keep trying different words because they didn't quite give the full depth of understanding that he was trying to convey. Hence - his writings are rather wordy.

That is what I will have to say here. There are no good words that can describe to you who HisGirl is to me. There is no good title.

Bestie Adventures ~ MySpace Style

Meet my very angelic BFF

I got the pleasure of an entire day with her. I present to you:
Bestie Adventures ~ MySpace Style


Okay. Just kidding. THIS is my very angelic BFF!

Got up in time to make it to second service at church. As is the tradition - everything was different than normal. Happens every.single.time I visit. Or, almost every.single.time.

Breakfast at Jack-In-The-Box. Cause ~hello~ I'm in California.

We stopped at Brandy's House. It's not really Brandy's house.
But we want it to be Brandy's house.

Lunch at PF Chang's. Be thankful we took our shot at this end of the horse. The other end is heart-shaped. Not making that up.

Here we found a reflective door and became obsessed with ourselves as one is wont to do when looking at such beauty.

Dinner at The Spaghetti Factory. It's not really a factory.

I took this picture especially for my sweet Mother-In-Law. This statue is for sale in the biggest indoor flea-market I've ever visited. See him holding his own pricetag? You're welcome.

Hearts @ Home And Milestones

I am blessed to be a part of what I believe has to be the best chapter of PWOC in the entire organization. There is a sub-ministry at our PWOC called Hearts@Home. It was piloted by an awesome lady several years ago for the purpose of supporting and encouraging PWOC sisters whose husbands are deployed or geographically separated for extended periods, and has blessed over a hundred women since its inception. I have been one of those women, and am currently again. It takes different paths depending on who is in charge that year and how God is leading them. Can I just tell you that this is an amazing ministry?! Today I went to PWOC and was handed THIS!


Isn't that cute?? Well WAIT! There's more! Our lovely H@H Ministry Team Leader said, "This is dinner for you!" "It's WHAT??" That's right. Dinner. I hugged it. I would hug her, but seriously. This was dinner. Already planned and made. Right in my hands. And I had to do none of the thought or preparation. Let me unwrap it for you so you can see inside...




Underneath the bag of rolls? A giant container of home-made corn chowder.



But WAIT! The wrapping was a table cloth! So, we set the table up RIGHT. Scarecrow and scripture note became the center piece, and we busted out the fauxfiestware dishes.



The scripture the scarecrow is holding is Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you..






We added butter for the bread, milk to drink and green salad. The plates were empty at the end. There was also just enough left that will serve us another meal!

Do you know those days where you dread the dinner hour? The ones where you haven't planned for anything, don't know what you're going to do, and then you get to the dinner hour and have to face the music? Have you ever been able to apply Jeremiah 29:11 to that?? "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.

I did! And let me just tell you people, this was NOT one of those days for me! I spent almost the entire day knowing that dinner was planned AND made ~ and not by me ~ and that caused me glee every time I thought of it!

But, S4J - "What's the milestone you speak of??"
I'll tell you!

None of us have EVER eaten ANY manner of chowder in our lives. Let's face it; the word 'chowder' itself is gross. It gives a yucky connotation and does not make one want to eat it. Nevermind the fact that it is often preceded by the word 'clam'. EW. Just EW. And if I am being perfectly honest, when I saw it, I was a little bit afraid that we would be starving that night because none of us would actually eat. But we all braved up and tried it. Which is pretty amazing AND we liked it too! How about that?

PS - although I am speaking about H@H specifically here, I want to also let you know that I have been blessed by friends who have brought us a meal (or me a pleasant treat in a cute little bag) - and mind you we do not live on post or even close to post - or prepared us a meal in their home. For some people, this is a nice blessing. For me it is a MAJOR blessing. I feel incredibly cared for and loved over by the people in my life and wish that I could truly describe to them what they are doing for me. It's a way that they have come alongside me and "helped me carry my books" if you will. I'm not talking about the spelling workbook either. I am talking about the American History textbook. It's not the whole backpack, but that's a big chunk of my load.

To S4J, Dinner meal = American History textbook

I am so relieved and thankful to have it carried for me once in a while.


blessings,

Adventures In Letterboxing

Guess what??!!?? I finally had that good Mommy day! The twins had their first letterboxing adventure and it was a great success. (If you do not know what letterboxing is, read on. If you DO know, you can skip down to the row of # signs; Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting subsequent letterboxers see who have visited. )

############
We also took my friend A on her maiden voyage with letterboxing. Our clues led us to a bird sanctuary in Texas. I didn't see any birds, but I did see a rabbit. And children. Children on a field trip. I made it out okay.

Our adventure took us over bridges and paths



to this tree stump




we were instructed by our thoughtful cluegiver to remember to poke the area with a stick and to even wear gloves before searching around with our hands to find the box in the event that there were snakes or spiders also searching for the treasure.



It was looking a little bleak until A saved the day and found the box! The red areas look to be attempts at entry by wild animals..





Then my son removed the lid to inspect the contents and bunches of bugs proceeded out the top. What happened next is a bit of a blur, but I am certain there was a high-pitched scream coming out of my son. Then I saw this...


Did you notice my daughter wielding the 'sword' at the docile container on the ground?? The notebook and stamp were safely in its water-tight bag. No harm no foul. We all happily stamped in the notebook and used the stamp provided to stamp in our journals, made certain that the container was devoid of all life forms, and then A stealthily and successfully returned the box to its hiding place to be found and treasured another day. All agreed it was an enjoyable activity and would like to do another in the future. *sigh*

Where In The World Is S4J? - Day 2 Continued

11:57am Heading South from here to the airport...



1:19pm Arrived at my destination! You guys are way too hip to me. You had me figured out right away!




1:29pm Picked up these...

HisGirl and Jtothe2nd

1:57pm Arrived at their swanky hotel and I spent some time taking pictures of the lovely lobby while they worked out the details of checking in...



3:10pm Time to eat and shop. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe...

3:15pm and because you people are harassing me about faces...



4:33pm After lunch we went around the Grapevine Mills Mall. We stopped in here...



Can you SEE the prices of these items? Jtothe2nd really loved that bowl sink AND those sunglasses.

5:09pm A little more fun back at the hotel before I had to be on my way home...


5:40pm I didn't get a picture of this because I was literally standing at the door when we heard a key in it. It was my Chica Wen who had just arrived from California!! I got to say, "Hello" and hug her before heading out for the 6 1/2 hour drive home.

8:19pm YAHOO! J-in-the-B for dinner!!
Arrived home around 12:30am

More later on the reason for the quick turn around.....

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

I got the opportunity to attend the Women of Faith conference in Shreveport/Bossier City FOR FREE (Thank you Main Post Chapel!) and so I was gone for several days to that. What an amazing blessing! On my way home from that on Saturday night I had the privilege of retrieving a friend from the airport who chose to spend her spring break vacation here!

So, needless to say, renovations were on hold and are still not getting too much attention. I know that you are all waiting patiently for the latest update on our Master Bedroom, however Southern Living is just like those renovation and makeover shows where the final stages are hidden from the public so that the ultimate reveal can be appropriately dramatic. I am putting the finishing touches on the walls in the closet so that it can be painted and then the hanging and shelving structures will be installed. Not far now.
My friend Pendulum(the one I got at the airport) escorted me shopping yesterday to buy accessories for the bedroom and show me how to have taste and panash and we now have real-live bedside lamps. High fallootin. I will also share with you that Pendulum is an amazingly gifted worshiper so we have been going around singing and singing. LOVE it.

Until next time...

WOF - Kimleigh and Laudi

I am a stalker. I'll just put it out there. When I found out that I was going to be rooming with two girls that I know who are very good friends and I would like to be their gooder friend, I was so excited. So I set out on a mission...
1. Give them a name. Kimleigh
2. Make myself a nametag. Kimleigh Groupie.

That's me. And that's how I thought it was going to be for the weekend. And then there was a mix-up with the rooms. Which, in the end, got us a bonus roomie. Whom I ADORE. So I set out on a mission....
1. Give us a name. Laudi
2. Take a picture. See above.(Yes it is snowing in our hotel room in Louisiana)

First day of a weekend of fun, faith and fellowship! These are the funnest girls! Right now my partner is flying all over trying to smash a beetle to death, screaming and I am SURE upsetting the neighbors. Kimleigh is talking trash about Laudi, but we don't mind. Word.