Letting Go, Moving On....

1) I had an interesting conversation with a young friend of mine this week in which I realized there are two kinds of people in the world.  Those who expect you to get over your problems quickly and move on (because they do) and those who understand that for some of us, it takes a long, long time for us to work through our issues.  I am the type who... if I invest alot of time and emotional energy in someone/something and I get hurt... you can expect a lengthy period of time of me dealing with it.  And that's just how it is.  And that's okay.

2) I am coming to realize that I love far more people than I dislike.  And I believe God is as real as the keys of the keyboard I can feel beneath my fingers as I type.  And he is a God of Love.  And I need to work on giving people the benefit of the doubt, looking for what is good in them, listening rather than judging and condemning, being honest and straightforward (perhaps I don't really need to work on that one as much), allowing people to be where they are, but doing my part to encourage them to move forward.  Everyone is one bad decision away from destruction.  Everyone.

3) Jesus came to redeem our souls and not our flesh.  Therefore, I shouldn't be surprised when my flesh fights my redeemed soul for what it wants and wins.  However, the more I grow, the more I know that greater is He who is in ME than he who is in the world... and theoretically, my flesh never has to win.

4) I have lost 7.4 pounds in the last two weeks!!!  Go me!!

5) I saw Barry Manilow last night in Nashville with a sweet friend of mine.  I was surprised at how many of his songs I was able to sing along with!  :-)  I have to give him credit for being able to get up there and do what he does at his age!  It was a fun time!

6) I can't wait to see my girls tomorrow!  They have been gone to Alexandria, VA on a mission trip for TEN days and I have missed them soooooooo much!

That is all I have time for.  I have to get ready for church now!

Decorating

I got this little Bistro set really, really cheap on clearance at Home Depot.  It is the perfect size for my back porch and if it wasn't so stinking hot out there, I would go out there and use it.  :-)

 I got this four-place-setting dish set at my store for cheap.  It came with four each of dinner plates, salad plates, bowls and mugs.  I always wanted to have dishes out on my dining room table simply for decoration, but never could really afford to have special dishes just for decoration.  That is until I started working at a thrift store!!!  :-)

We never really use the dining room much.  It's the one room in my house that just stays pretty.

A gorgeous vase from the store... flowers from Hobby Lobby (on sale).

 Not a great picture, but a big basket floral arrangement from the store.

 And this particular morning, I just like the way the light was shining through the closed curtains and took a picture.  :-)

Recent Vacation

Oh, for more time to blog.  But, here are some highlights from our recent trip to Michigan....

Cousins in church with their grandparents.

 Me and Melissa in church....

 David, in church, not pleased with our goofing around....

 Cedar Point dinner at Famous Dave's.... our food came served on a garbage can lid....

 It was kind-of cool, I thought.  We ordered a big family buffet thing and they put all kinds of food on the garbage can lid and everyone got to pick what they wanted.  It was very tasty and a reasonably cheap way to eat dinner.

Libby and Claudia enjoying dinner.

 Jacob and Kelli.

I rode this..... Top Thrill Dragster AND the biggest roller coaster EVER, Millenium Force.  I put both of these items on my Post-Divorce Accomplishment List (PDAL), right after buying a house and getting and A in Statistics.  :-)

 This is The Maverick, I think.  I sat it out because it was near the end of the day and MaxAir had made me kindof queasy.  Libby is in the car second to the last in the picture, looking at the camera.

This guy..... was behind me in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Louisville on the way up to Michigan and actually honked at me when I didn't move up 15 feet.  He later flipped me the bird for THEN driving as slow as I possibly could just to make him mad.  He really enjoyed having his picture taken.

And he thoroughly enjoyed us pointing at this billboard!

 My mom and the kiddos in a Mirror Maze in Frankenmuth.  It was a nice day!

That's about all I have.  Other than the delicious CONEY I got to eat after church.  And the Beef Stronganoff David and I made to surprise Melissa.  Yummmmm.  :-)

Christina Perri

I find spiritual comfort in strange places.  I have fallen in love with secular singer Christina Perri and in particular, two of her songs... "A Thousand Years" and "Jar of Hearts".  She has a lovely voice.  In the throws of a bad night... little sleep and a headache, I was listening to these two songs back-to-back on my Ipod while lying in bed with a pillow over my head.  "A Thousand Years" first.  And it occurred to me it could be a conversation between me and God.  (Forget the Twilight connection).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ayN39xmsI (Go there to listen)

ME: Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

JESUS: I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
ME:  Time stands still
Beauty in all he is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

JESUS:  And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closer
One step closer

Now.... "Jar of Hearts", a song I have loved a long while now, in a whole new light.  I envision it as me speaking to the Enemy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nChO-PibN9A (Go there to listen)

No, I can't take one more step towards you
'Cause all that's waiting is regret
Don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore
You lost the love I loved the most

I learned to live half alive
And now you want me one more time
[Chorus:]
And who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?
I hear you're asking all around
If I am anywhere to be found
But I have grown too strong
To ever fall back in your arms
Dear, It took so long just to feel alright
Remember how to put back the light in my eyes
I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed
'Cause you broke all your promises
And now you're back
You don't get to get me back!

Mmmmm.....

A few nights ago, I sauteed some of my green beans from my garden in a little butter for dinner.  Oh, they were so good. 

Here are the changes I will make in next year's garden:

1) No squash.  It basically took over the whole space and I don't like it THAT much.

2) More green beans

3) Put in a trellis for the sugar snap peas to grow on alot sooner (I basically killed the poor things by trying to put it in too late).

4) No herbs.  As much as I fancy in my head that I will use them... I won't.

5) Do a better job with the tomatoes... put them in a bigger container and get two plants.

6) Leave more room for the cucumbers.

I definitely have enjoyed gardening so far this year, though.  The veggies have been very yummy!

Hair and Toenails

Got my hair colored a darker color today.  We were just going to do a root touch-up, but both agreed the lighter color wasn't doing much for me- so we just went for this dark auburn color.  I think I like it.  Maybe a little more red than I was expecting, but I think I will get used to it.

And, I got my first ever pedicure.  I know it's hard to believe at 41 than I have never had a pedicure, but people... it's the truth.  I have never splurged on having it done and no one ever gave me one as a gift.  Sure would have been nice all those years I was carrying 25 pound babies around in side my body.  Ha ha. 

Anyway- you get to sit in these nice vibrating chairs and put your feet in hot bubbling water and get them all worked on, massaged, lotioned up... and now my nails are lovely, shiny red.  Tammy just pampered me so much!!

All this for the cost of a hair cut at my regular place!  :-)

 

Forgiving

Our sermon today was on FORGIVENESS.  How we must do it whether someone deserves it or has asked for it.  We do it because God did it for us and tell us to do it for others.  And we do it for ourselves.  Because carrying around unforgiveness and bitterness is unhealthy for us.

^{“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins". Matthew 6:14-15}

^{“bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Colossians 3:13}

^{Jesus taught us to pray this:}

^{"and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us". Matthew 6:12}

<sup>Do you want God to forgive you the same way you have forgiven the ones that have sinned against you?

The worst is yet to come... later in Matthew, Peter asks Jesus how many times do we need to forgive someone who sins against us, seven times?  And Jesus says "No, not seven times, but seventy times seven!" and then goes on to tell a parable.

It is about the King who forgives a man who owes him millions of dollars.  And then that man turns around and refuses to forgive someone who owes him a couple thousand.  He has his debtor thrown in prison.  When the king finds out... this is his response:</sup>

"Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?"  Then he throws him in prison to be tortured until the entire debt had been paid.

Then the scary part!  Jesus says, "That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart".

Then we were dismissed and given a sharpie and a white balloon.  We were told to go outside and write on the balloons the names or situations where we need to forgive.  And after the pastor prayed, we released the balloons in a symbol of releasing the anger and bitterness.  As the balloons floated away, cheers went up.  My friend and I blew kisses to our balloons.  It was pretty awesome!

Too bad the sky was gray, so the pictures aren't that great.... please don't try to zoom in and read my balloon and see if your name is on it!!!  Ha ha.  You don't know which ballon is mine and I wrote in code!  ;-)  Anyway, the good news, if it was your name, you are now forgiven!  :-)