On My Mind...

Just some things that are on my mind today:

1.  Horrific Violence -
Today 14 people were killed in San Bernadino, CA.  Innocent people that couldn't help themselves, by gunmen that had no care in the world for life.  Violence has been around always.  I study world history with my kids each day, and believe me, violence has always been around.  I hate it!  I don't want to sit around and wonder what the next thing will be.  I am glad my hope is in Christ!

2.  Going Home -
We're going home in just a few short weeks!  Can't wait!  Oh how we miss our families and can't wait to spend time with them!  While I am super excited to see family, I always get a little sad because I can never see all of the many people that we know and love when we come home.  Just know, whether I see you or not, you are loved and I am thankful for you.

3.  Raising Kids -
HARD!!!!!!  HARD!!!!! WORK!!!!!!   BEST JOB EVER!!!!!!!!  but...HARD, HARD WORK!!!!!

4.  Giving -
I love to give!  If I could give everyone presents all the time, I would!  It makes me happy, but it's hard too.  We went and bought our gifts for the outreach tree at church last night.  It cost over $50 and we really didn't buy much at all.  Micah and I talked about it a bit.  About how so many families do not have money to buy basic needs.  (We bought hats, gloves, baby wipes, socks and underwear...all basic things that are necessary.)  If it was a struggle for me to buy these things for only two children, can you imagine how families with 4 or 5 feel at this time of year?  Help a family if you can.  People have needs!  Lots of people!

5.  Laughter -
I love to laugh!  Lately, Grace and I have been laughing a lot.  (She's at the stage in life where she is legitimately funny, and it's the best!)  I read one chapter from Jen Hatmaker's For The Love while we were at Barnes and Noble last night.  Grace and I laughed so hard in the store that she fell out of her seat.  We quiet laughed, so as not to be too obnoxious, but it was a funny chapter.  Check out a few things that made me laugh really hard.  (I posted them below.)

6. HGTV's Fixer Upper -
Let's just end on a happy note, shall we?  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Fixer Upper, but I think the reason I love it is because I adore Chip and Joanna Gaines!  I love laughing at/with Chip!  I love how Joanna always laughs when he is silly!  I love how Joanna talks to her kids!  (Yes, I know that this is a TV show, but they just seem so very real and authentic!)  Fixer Upper is my 1 hour each week where I settle in and feel like I have just stepped back into Texas and I LOVE it!!!  (Did I already say that?)  And, to end this rambling blog post, I just thought you might like to know that Chip Gaines retweeted me today!  Yep, pretty much made my day!  LOL!  Yes, I need to get a life.




Here are a few things to make you laugh!

Connecting The Dots

I follow several blogs, daily.  We are THAT family by Kristen Clark Welch, The Big Mama Blog by Melanie Shankle, Money Saving Mom by Crystal Paine, and the original blog that hooked me on all things "blog"...The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond.  I read these everyday.  I enjoy them.  They encourage me, teach me, and make me laugh.  So, when Kristen Clark Welch posted that she needed a launch team for her new book, Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, I decided to apply.  I totally did not think that I would get chosen for this awesome opportunity, but I DID!  I was chosen!  So stinking exciting!  I totally applied on a whim, but knew that I would seriously enjoy this book if chosen, and let me tell you something...not only will I enjoy this book, I am CERTAIN, I will be changed.  Yep, I read the introduction the day before Thanksgiving, and knew then that this was going to be BIG!  Today, Chapter 1, rocked my boat a bit.  Uh huh, entitlement!  Yes, Kristen makes you think about YOURSELF!  How dare she?!  Haha!  She says this, "Entitlement didn't start with my kids.  It began with me.  I entitled them because I was entitled!"  Wow!  I had to stop on that one!  (More to come about chapter one later this week!)

Here's the super cool thing, though!  Last night at church, one of our pastors was reading from Exodus 3.  You know, the chapter where Moses sees the burning bush that isn't burning up, so he goes close and hears the voice of God?!  He speaks to God there!  Yep, heard that story a few times myself, being that I grew up as a preacher's kid in Southeast Texas.  I know that story!  I could tell you that story over and over, but last night I heard something different!  In Exodus 3:13-14, the bible says:

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the people of Israel.  Suppose I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.'  Suppose they ask me 'What is his name?'  Then what should I tell them?"  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.  Here is what you must say to the Israelites.  Tell them, 'I AM has sent me to you."

Now friends, I am going to be brutally honest here.  I have read and heard that passage many times, but never really grasped what God was saying when he says, "I AM WHO I AM."  Never really got that.  Kind of read it, and kept going...never stopped and processed!  But last night, I understood!  I AM means HE IS means He's Sufficient!  He is everything when I am nothing!  He IS, when I'm not!  I AM...whatever they need, whatever you need, sufficient for anything and everything always!  One of our pastors, Christopher Hillken, says it way better, take a look:

Good stuff!  And here is where I realize that God connects all the dots for us!  My entitlement, just might be connected to my lack of understanding that HE IS, sufficient?!  Yep, this book might just be God's way of teaching me about HIS SUFFICIENCY!  I pray that my heart is ready, Lord!  Let's do this!

Not So Sure

I loved blogging, when I blogged.  I have wanted to start back many times, but I get intimidated.  I just want to have fun with it.  If people want to read it, awesome!  For now, its just a way for me to share my thoughts.  Micah and I were talking the other day, and he said that I should start blogging again.  I told him that I really didn't know what my "platform" was.  I don't know where my "lane" is, in this blog world.  I do know that I love writing.  So, I'm going to go for it again.  I may not post for the world to see anytime soon, but I'm going for it.

I'm not so sure...but here it goes!