Slap in the Face

Today was just one of those days. I can't pinpoint any specific problem. I just had a bad attitude I guess and well, in my opinion everything was going wrong. I had lots on my to-do list that needed done but I found myself going in circles and getting nothing done. Just when I would start..another mess that just had to get cleaned up at that moment would happen. It seemed never ending.

I broke out in tears while emptying the dishwasher. I just felt overwhelmed. My house was a wreck and I just couldn't seem to get ahead on anything.

THEN I saw it. It being my notecard that I had lamanated that was taped up by my sink. (click here to read a post about it) It read "feeling overwhelmed? too much to do but not enough time? Take 5 minutes and refresh in God's word.". I even have a Bible by my kitchen sink for those times that I want to look at it but heading to my room would be too much.

SO I grabbed that Bible and started reading. Skimming actually...thinking I was going to find some verse that would just POP out at me giving me the comfort and strength I needed at the moment. I kept reading...NOTHING that seemed to pertain to what I was feeling. THEN..I flipped a few more pages...started to skim and out of nowhere a verse popped out. Not the verse I had hoped for. Instead of something comforting and strengthing...it was like a SLAP in the face. The verse was this:

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. Phillippians 2:14-16

SHOOT...so it's ME that is the problem. I know I complained many times today...Yup..that verse was DEFINETLY for me. The scripture didn't exclude complaining about housework or dealing with misbehaving children. It DID indeed say EVERYTHING. Yup, I need to do EVERYTHING without complaining. I should NOT be complaining about what needs to be done. I am definetly not blameless or pure at the moment. So then I had to bow my head and first ask for forgiveness, then thank God for speaking to me thru his word and THEN with a new outlook on my tasks at hand get back to work. :)

Okay, now back to my work with a smile on my face and a happy heart. :) I had to take a few minutes to type this blog post. I was just going to type it and save it for later but decided it was okay to go ahead and publish right away. So sorry if there are typos. :)

Blessed!

This past month has been filled with some unexpected blessings. They aren't anything HUGE or anything, but just simple things that shows God cares about the small things too.

Blessing #1: (this one actually took place quite a few months ago)We were given a bed frame for Mya. It's not just your typical twin bed. This bed is a few feet off the ground. It has a wooden SLIDE and underneath it has a tent thing that makes it look like a princess castle! It looks brand new! It's a little girls DREAM bed! We didn't need that bed yet (mya does have a twin bed right now but soon we will need two as gracie gets ready for a big bed). We don't even know the people that gave it to us! They gave it to my sister in law and told her to give it to US. What a blessing!

Blessing #2: I've been wanting a new VCR (you know, those ancient things that they had before DVD players..lol). We had one that we bought 8 yrs ago and almost a year ago it would NOT eject the tape. I thought maybe a motor died in it or something (but what do I know...nothing about VCRs or other electronics that's for sure!) So the VCR sat hidden away. I wanted to buy another one recently because we were given TONS of Disney movies for our kids (Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, etc. TONS of those disney movies as well as veggie tales videos). I know it's not THAT big of a deal if my kids watch those movies but most they have NEVER seen and they really do enjoy movies. So I wanted them to be able to watch these when we had movie nights. Then a few weeks ago we were blessed with some MORE disney videos. Jordan asked if he could take a look at our VCR..i let him since I figured we just needed to throw it away anyway. Well, he unscrewed it and when he opened it up he found a toy fork and a lego! THAT is ALL that was wrong with it. With those toys removed it works PERFECTLY! WOW! I was SO happy. I know it's not a big deal but to me it was. A few days before that I actually prayed that we would find a cheap VCR or that we would even be given one. Silly, I know but God TRULY does care about the small stuff. I would have been JUST as happy without one but I would have just liked to have one for the kids.

Blessing #3: If you were to surprise me and come over unexpectedly anytime after dinner you would probably find me in my pajama pants. They are JUST so comfy. I just love pajama pants. I go thru pajama pants like CRAZY. I guess its' because they get worn so much and washed so much (with 4 kids and 2 dogs...i change clothes often in one day! LOL). I had a pair I loved that I had just a little over a year and they just got this huge hold right above the knee and the hole grew and grew until I had to sadly throw them in the trash. Well, out of no where I was blessed with not one, not two but THREE pairs of pajama pants (along with tops). They are like brand new! I was so excited! Nothing big, and they weren't something I needed desperatly..but just wanted more of them. I was so thankful for my new comfy pajama pants.

Blessing #4: Our boys slept on a full sized mattress on their bedroom floor for almost a year now. They desperatly needed twin beds. (The full bed wouldn't have been so bad for them to share..but it was SUPER old and so worn out and so uncomfortable). We were given TWO twin beds and TWO mattresses a few weeks ago! WHAT A BLESSING FROM GOD! We also got quite a few sheet sets and quilts for both beds! This one brought tears to my eyes. Our boys really did need this. (I have to add that the first night they slept on their new beds they were squealing with delight and I asked Jordan what he was doing and he said he was JUST SOO happy, he couldn't stop smiling because this bed was SOOOO comfortable!--that right there made me smile!)

THANK YOU God for the many blessings in my life. Both BIG and small.

Ahh...Good Morning

I was up at 7am and finally by 8am I had my coffee made, my english muffin was toasted and had blackberry preserves on it (which I was SO excited about because I just bought that at the store last night--I love blackberry jelly but hate the seeds in it..did you know they make seedless blackberry jelly, jam or preserves?? I never knew..until last night! ) and my Bible was all ready to go. Good Morning to me! (Notice the little hand trying to reach for my english muffin?? I was not the only one awake. That was Gracie trying to sample my breakfast!)

I was reminded of something very simple yet very profound this morning when I was reading my Bible. I was reading Psalm 95. In verse 3-6 it states:

"For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker,"

A very simple concept. God created our earth and everything in it. It made look outside and think, "wow, how often to I thank God for creating all of this?". I thank him for my children, for my husband, for all the other "things" he's given me but do I thank him for this beautiful earth he created with his hands? Yesterday we were driving to the grocery store. We have to drive for about 30 minutes on country roads. I kept noticing these trees that had beautiful purple flowers on them. I pointed out each one I saw and commented on how beautiful they were (side note: doing that made me think of my Mom. Growing up she was always pointing out beautiful trees, flowers, etc. I now do that too! ). BUT I didn't think to thank God for creating those. Now that spring is here, the earth is covered with His new beauty. Let's not forget to thank our creator who created all these beautiful things. He created this earth with his hands. "Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker"

Oh be careful little eyes what you see...

It was SO funny. Today as we were driving home from Walmart the song "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns was on the radio. Mya loves that song because at the end they have a little kid singing "oh be careful little eyes what you see". So when that was over, she wanted to sing the whole song. So we sang, "oh be careful little feet where you go, oh be careful little feet where you go, for the Father up above is looking down with love, Oh be careful little feet where you go". We went thru each verse, feet, hands, eyes, mouths etc. After each one I asked them what you thought it ment. When we went to discuss "oh be careful little eyes what you see" Mya said, "I know what that means...that means if you see someone robbing a bank to cover your eyes so you don't see them doing something bad!". I had to just laugh. So cute! The stuff kids think of!