Family Updates

A Plea for Purging had some time off and got to go home to Nashville for a few days. It was a much needed rest for them, and the best part for Aaron was that his girlfriend surprised him by being there also. I am so thankful they were able to spend some time together because his life on the road is difficult on relationships. They are back on tour again now in the southeast, so maybe, just maybe I'll see them at some point. Lord, I pray for continued blessings on this group and I pray for safety and protection on the highways and interstates. Please help them to always do what they're doing for You and Your glory.

Leah is busy, busy with college classes, her sweet boyfriend, and working at a daycare. It's amazing to see the changes that have come over her in the past year. She is maturing and becoming a beautiful Christian young lady. I have prayed for so many years for her, and to see what God is doing in her is absolutely amazing. Lord, thank you for miracles, thank you for showing me over and over again how awesome You are.

Eddie is teaching his little heart out at his school, continuing to be a favorite teacher of 8th graders. It's only his second year at this school and they've already named him teacher of the year. When a teacher is truly called to teach, it shows. Lord, thank you for allowing me the privilege of being married to a man who loves You, his family, and his students. Please guide him as he deals with kids who are at the most difficult age of adolescence.

Friday Favorites

About three weeks ago, Frasypoo wrote a post about her Citizenship Anniversary. It was a great post and I am so proud of her for what she accomplished. I am also happy to have such a wonderful person from India living in our country!

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21

My Valentine's Day

I had a really great Valentine's Day. I had told Eddie last weekend what I wanted. I told him I didn't want flowers, I didn't want candy or any of the usual Valentine's gifts. What I wanted was a new water heater so I can take showers that will stay hot all the way to the end. So, that day he went out and bought a new water heater. It's still in the back of his Jeep, but that's okay, I know it will be installed soon and I really appreciate him getting it. I wasn't expecting anything else but he still bought me a big box of chocolate candy and a card. Yummy! I love chocolate! We planned to stay home since we knew the restaurants would be crowded, and I told him I would make some homemade cookies for him. But our plans always seem to change; our daughter called and said she and her boyfriend were coming to town to eat at Red Lobster and they invited us to go with them. Well, to spend time with one of my kids, I don't mind having a 45 minute wait for a table so we met them at Red Lobster and had a nice meal all together.

It seems like holidays turn out the best when I haven't set high expectations about it. I really didn't have any expectations this time because my sweetheart makes every day like Valentines Day.

Josiah Leming

If you've been watching American Idol, then I'm sure you know exactly who Josiah is. He's an adorable 18-year old singer who auditioned for the show in Atlanta and made it through to the Hollywood auditions. In his original televised audition he sang acapella, a song that he wrote called To Run. It impressed the judges even though this Tennessee boy sang with a British accent. And then in Hollywood he wowed the judges and the audience with a song about Grace Kelly. But at his last audition he chose to sing acapella again rather than use the band provided by American Idol. He'd not slept much the night before and was extremely tired and emotionally drained. Sadly, the song didn't go well and the judges thought he was being arrogant by dismissing the band. But they put him through to the next round anyway. But last night they aired the show of who made the 24 finalists and Josiah didn't make it. I wasn't home so I missed seeing it.

I have to admit that I fell in love with Josiah and I think he has a lot of potential in music. And the fact that American Idol chose to follow him through the whole process will only help him in his music career. I hope that he can get picked up by a great quality label and that he can learn to accept the advice of those who know what they're talking about. So, remember his name....you might be hearing it a lot more in the future.

The Lazy River

I feel like I'm at such a weird point in my life, at an in-between stage. I've always felt like I had a purpose and I tried to live my life by working toward that goal. As a kid my purpose was to go to school and do my best and work toward graduating. As a young adult my purpose was to find God's will for my life, obtain a music degree, and figure out who I was supposed to marry. After getting married and having kids my purpose became more clear than ever. First of all I had to be a wife, but I also had children to care for. For many years my life was consumed with taking care of the physical needs of my children, feeding them, bathing them, keeping them clothed, taking them to the doctor when they were sick, waking them for school, making sure they got to school, making sure their homework was done, taking them to church and other activities including baseball practice, tennis lessons, soccer, gymnastics, piano, and then going to watch them perform in baseball or soccer games, piano recitals, school programs, church programs. Of course, I didn't have to do it all by myself because my husband was just as much involved in it all as I was. In all of this there was a goal we were striving to reach which was to have our children grow up to be good, law-abiding adults who would be able to leave us at some point and be independent. And now that they have both moved out it has left me wondering what my purpose is for this chapter in my life.

I no longer have to take care of children, and neither of my kids are married yet so I'm not a grandmother. My parents are doing well so I'm not having to be a care giver to them. I am in great health and without having so many responsibilities as before, I should have an abundance of time to do many things that I never had time for when I was so busy. But I honestly don't know what my purpose is right now. It's really a wonderful time in life and I feel so free, but I don't want to waste it because I know it won't last forever. New responsibilites will come later.

Right now, my life is reminding me of a water park. Water parks are great fun in the summertime with lots of different kinds of water slides, wave pools, playhouses and my favorite, the Lazy River. I feel like I've already done a lot of the water slides -- it takes some effort to climb to the top before you can actually enjoy the slide down. I feel like I've experienced the wave pools -- just doing everything you can to keep your head above water. I've had some fun along the way in the water playhouses. And now, this season of my life feels like the Lazy River -- it doesn't take much effort, you just get in and relax on a tube and float down the river as long as you feel like it. There's no climbing to reach a goal at the top, no exhilarating slide down, and no waves that feel like they are going to drown you. I'm sure at some point I am going to have to get out of my lazy river and battle some waves and climb some high steps again. But for right now, I am really enjoying my float on the Lazy River.

Continued from yesterday....

I hadn't planned to have a Part 2 for yesterday's post, but Nina left me a comment and said that it reminded her of this Casting Crowns song. I had completely forgotten about this song, but in case you haven't heard it, the title is "Here I Go Again". Thanks, Nina, for reminding me about it!

Weather Talk

We had the most beautiful weather this weekend. Saturday was so sunny there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was warm enough to go out without a jacket. I felt like I had to be outside so I wouldn't waste a great day. It gave me a great excuse not to do housework!

Aren't you thankful we have weather? Because as long as we have weather, we always have something to talk about. Maybe you aren't conversationally challenged like I am, being a quiet person by nature, but sometimes I'm not sure what to talk about. But I've noticed that everyone can always talk about the weather, for example....it's a beautiful day today; I wish it would stop raining; oh, it's so cold out there; this heat is killing me; etc., etc. If we can so easily talk about the weather to anyone and everyone, why is it so hard for Christians to say something out loud about Jesus? I mean, think about it, how many times at work do you bring up the name of Jesus to your co-workers? For me, it's really not very much. I do with my friends who I know are committed Christians, but with other people, I just talk about the weather or other unimportant things. Jesus is "God with us" and he went to the cross and died there, taking the punishment for my sins, and then was resurrected. His tomb is empty! This is exciting! Why am I not telling every single person I meet about what He did and how He can change their life? Am I afraid of what they'll think about me? If I tell people about Jesus in a loving way, then I shouldn't even have to worry about what they think about me. I should be more concerned about what God thinks about me.

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33