It's what I'm thankful for....

With Turkey Day being tomorrow and all, I figured it was time to dust off my two Thank You God Lists (here and here) and add a few more to it. In going back and reading them....its been a long few months. So...without further delay....

16) Thank you, God, for reminding me that it is You that is in charge. No matter how hard I try, I cannot change Your plan for me. And in the end....Your plan is always better anyway.

17) Thank you for the roof over our head, the car that gets us all over the place, the warm in the winter and the cool in the summer, the clothes on our backs and the food that keeps our tummys full. Your provision, IN ALL THINGS, is more than enough. Thank you.

18) Thank you for my family. And my girls. And my friends. All of them are a gift and I work hard everyday to remember that life is short and I should not take anyone for granted. I'm still workin' on that one....

19) THANK YOU for your Word. I need to spend more time with it but have found a new and lasting desire to be in Your Word more often and rely on it to guide me.

20) Thank you for grandma's stuffing. And angel food cake. And strawberry pretzel dessert. And turkey. Oh...and GRAVY. You know what? Thank you, God, for my grandma.

and finally....

21) THANK YOU for HOPE. Hope in You. Hope in things to come. Hope in the restoration of my heart and others around me. Hope that comes only from knowing You.

Happy Turkey Day everyone. GOBBLE, GOBBLE.

JC is my BFF...

Oh NO she dint....

MOVE OVER BOBBY....WE'RE HAVIN' A THROWDOWN.

So the girls and I were chattin' the other night....talking about Christmas and their wish lists and that kind of stuff. I was trying to get them to tell me what they HAD to have versus the junk that they never use and I waste my money on. I'm just saying....stretchin' a dollar these days isn't so easy. They get that....all three of them are smart girls. We decided that we would give one extra present each to Toys for Tots or the family that my work is sponsoring and they would make their wish lists a little smaller this year. Whew....teaching kids about giving and sacrificing so that others can have something too is not always fun but it went really well. They all have HUGE hearts. In fact, Taylor wanted to not buy any presents at all and give all that money to charity (she still believes that Santa is NOT her momma!). Needless to say she was out voted. :)

Then, Alli asks what we will be doing for our Christmas dinner. At Christmas we don't travel anywhere and we just love to stay home and cook some yummy viddles together. All my girls love to cook...what a blessing that is. :) Alli then started getting all cocky and said "You don't know how to cook a turkey, mom."

SAY WHAT??? Oh no she dint....Seriously.

A momma of three (me) can do ANYTHING and she's telling ME I can't cook a turkey? GAME ON, SISTA. So....we decided on a food challenge. Her and Taylor v. me and Carli. Ha. She forgot about the time my sister-in-law Tina and I cooked the Thanksgiving dinner for my ex-husband's entire extended family. It was good too. Or how about the last two Christmases when I made a huge dinner! She is just too young to have lost her mind....but it appears that she has. Sad....so sad. I'll show her though. Little squirt challenging her momma to a cook off. Humpf.....she'll PAY. :)

** DON'T ANYONE FREAK OUT....any extra food we have we'll give to the shelter.... might be a little be crazy here but we are not wasteful! **

BRING IT ON.....wahahahaha {EVIL LAUGH}

JC is my BFF!

So I was thinkin....

I know. Dangerous. Stick with me though....

I was thinking about how God works. How He answers prayers and opens doors. Then how He sometimes closes doors and chooses not to answer a prayer. I have often struggled with this....knowing if a door is really closed or if I should keep praying that same unanswered prayer. I wonder if He ever gets TIRED of hearing me ask for something He knows I don't need or isn't in line with His plan. It would be like a nagging child asking for candy every time you go to the grocery store:

Kiddo: "Candy, momma?"
Momma: "No."
Kiddo: "Why?"
Momma: "'Cuz I said so." (my favorite line, by the way)
Kiddo: "BUT WHY?"
Momma: "Argh...."

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat again.

Now I don't know about you but it makes me NUTS when my kids ask for things over and over again and never hear me say no. I suppose that's how it is for God. I ask over and over and He just keeps closing the door. Just keeps listening and being patient with me....I guess if I knew what He knows about my life ahead of me, I might be patient too! :)

I guess what I have been thinking about really is how when one is mature (or more mature) in their relationship with Him they somehow recognize when a door is closing. Instead of banging their head against that door (or in my case breaking the window and reaching in to unlock from the inside) they recognize it's closed and instead of standing there staring at it, they keep moving, keep walking and trying other doors. Man, that's hard.

"I want THIS door God. Don't you see? Don't you hear my prayers? Don't you WANT me to have this? WHY?" and so the conversation goes. I sound like a child. BUT there is hope for me. I'm learning. With this last door that just SLAMMED (like a mad teenager!), I've learned. God is telling me to keep walking.

Then it hit me. God knows the desires of my heart....even when I truly don't. He knows my deepest desperate need...even when I don't. It is not my job to question Him about why certain doors are open and others are closed. My job is to praise Him at all times, in all things. NOT just when things are good. God showed me this today....."I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me." ~ Psalm 120:1. Then He showed me this...."In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

So....I will stop whining and stomping my feet to get that darn door back open. I will trust that God knows what He's doing and keep walking. Walking and learning. Praising Him all the way.

GOD IS GOOD!

JC is my BFF....

Then here it is. The door to NOWHERE....the one I keep trying to open goes nowhere.

** UPDATE ** One of the SMARTEST ladies I know just made a comment about this post on my FaceBook and I absolutely have to share. She said this "......then you close your eyes and see if you feel the breeze.......of another opened window or door..........." I LOVE IT. With patience and some practice I bet I'll be able to feel that breeze. THANKS, MY FRIEND. THANKS.

PRAYERS NEEDED....

Can't give out too much info but a friend of mine, my new prayer warrior partner(!), just told me she is 5-6 weeks pregnant and her "levels" are not ok. No heartbeat was heard today. She is a great lady....deserves all the happiness in the world and really wants this baby (her second).

So...pray for my friend and her baby; that God gives her peace as she waits for her next appointment on Thursday; that she feels His presence as she cries; that her husband can be understanding of her worry and comfort her as she needs it and that God's will be done.

THANK YOU. Just....thank you.

Visit me on Esty.com!

I found a new way to display and sell my photos! OutOfTheAshesPhoto.Etsy.com!!! Check it out....Only have three photos out there right now but I will be adding more soon. Great Christmas presents!!!! hint, hint ;)

Thanks for your support!

Just braggin' about my kiddo....

Last Thursday was a crazy night. Carli had her first indoor soccer game, I had a meeting at church to wrap up our "Whyi Art Fair" and then Carli had her 3rd grade music concert. Just figures that I was to be in three places at the same time....thank God Alli can drive. (I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT!) She took Carli to her indoor game while I went to church then we all met at the school for the concert. I was tired before the day even began. Typically have a day like this once a week and I while I wouldn't trade it for the world, it wears me out!

Anyway, Carli's concert was titled "Shhhh...we're writing the Constitution". Can you guess what it was about? :) It was really more of a play! Kids with tons of lines and actions moves and about 8 songs to sing...and it all took only 45 minutes! It was very good too.

SIDE NOTE: Carli....being the youngest....has been blessed with many talents. The kid can do anything with just a few quick trys. Makes Taylor nuts....since she's like me and we need to try and try again and even then we still don't always know how to do things. Anyway, on top of Carli being a pretty good soccer player, smarter than the average 4th grader (yes....she's in 3rd grade), the little stinker can sing. And I mean sing. She can dance and sing at the same time even (although most of you will never see that side of her....she's just goofy like that at home). Where she got it? Musta been the mailman. :)

So....she had a signing part....second verse of "America the Beautiful" with 3 other girls. It was awesome. Goose bumps awesome.

Here are some pics of Carli at the concert. I was quite a ways away from the stage so lots of "red eyes". They look like evil possessed children....probably the ones that live in the corn across the road from my house. Ugh. Why do I do that to myself! Now I'm not gonna sleep tonight! :) Oh well. Enjoy!

Carli is the middle kiddo....you know. The good lookin' one. ;)

This one shows that she has on her soccer "slick" pants, soccer socks and tennis shoes. We did a good job pulling this together with what we had!

Shhhh...they are writing the Constitution!

Solo (with three others so what is that a quartet???)...she is stinkin' NERVOUS. And she is NEVER nervous!!!

Up close....she made a comment about the house lights....up too high so she could see the parents. She did NOT like that.

Thought the flags a flyin' was pretty cool....

After the concert posin'....she loves to have her picture taken.





Ok...I do have other children and I will post about them soon if they get off the couch and DO SOMETHING. hint, hint. ;)


JC is my BFF....

WHAT THE ??????

WOW. Not sure what is happening but I have had more hits on my blog in the last 3 hours than I have in the last 2 months! If you are new to my blog, please leave a comment and tell me how you found me! It's crazy....countries I have never heard of, states I've never been to and people I don't know checking out my blog. Cool....and weird. Leave me a note please! I'd love to find out what is going on (and do more of it :0)....

JC is my BFF!

Hope floats.....

Click here to read my latest blog posting on the Christian Woman Blog.....

:)

Praying for our children....

** UPDATE ** See the picture of the pretty little girl praying on the right of my blog? If you click on that it will take you to Angie's blog and you can get the 7x7 prayers. Enjoy!**

I clicked on one of my favorite blogs this morning and what I read was awesome. The blog is "Bring the Rain". For a little background, Angie is the wife of Todd (leader singer in the Christian group Selah). Their family has been through the loss of their youngest baby at birth and Angie has opened her heart to share her experience. She is an excellent writer....who has a direct line to God, I swear. She is AMAZING. Today, she is sharing her plan to pray over her three girls 7 times a day for 7 days. Check it out. It's a wonderful idea. I've also attached a link from someone who commented on her post....it's a calendar for us to use to pray over our kids a difference scripture each day of the month.

I'm new enough to my walk that it is hard for me to find the "right" words to pray with my girls. We do it sometimes...and they really do love it...but I need to be better about it. You know...not allow my insecurities about praying out loud with them stop me from doing it. They learn by example so if I keep my mouth shut, so will they.

So...to all you moms reading this, good luck. We have our work cut out for us in raising good children and now more than ever we need God to do it right.

JC is my BFF!!!

Silver lining....it's there.

I'm not a big fan of Obama. I'm just not. Don't get the "share the wealth" thing and quite frankly he scares me. Not convinced that he isn't the anti-christ either. BUT...he was just elected president and made history. I am proud to be an American....that our country has come so far from slavery and segregation. I am scared for the what next but I will pray for our country's new leaders to get on a knee and ask God for guidance....in all things. He is the same as He was before this election and He is the same today. Got this in an email today and it is right on...."We will move forward as a Nation into the history that God has preordained. These events and all events are only God’s hand at work and we have the privilege to witness it." Amen.

I will always remember where I was when the space shuttle exploded. I will always remember where I was on 9/11. And now....I will always remember where I was when history was made and America elected it's first black president.

On my way to work this morning....had to pull over to take some pictures of the beautiful sunrise. God was showing us all that He has a silver lining. These pictures do not do justice to the beauty this morning.

JC is my BFF....

Meet Sierra....

Sierra is a senior at ADM and the captain of Alli's high school soccer team. I absolutely love taking senior photos. It amazes me what these kids know and to watch them transition from being in high school to getting ready for college is pretty cool to see. Sierra is a smart kid, a great soccer player and you can just see the potential this kid oozes. Her world is just coming to life and with so many choices and things up ahead of her its very exciting! And....she takes great photos. She knows how to pose....I barely asked her to do anything. So....check out my favorites from our shoot and watch out world...HERE SHE COMES!!!

JC is my BFF!!!