How Great....

I love to sing...
Nope I'm not a "singer"...
but I love to sing...
Several months ago I joined the worship team in our church...
and so far I haven't been kicked out...
so maybe I can sing... lol

But one of the reasons I do love to sing is because of a phrase in a song I love...

If you have ever heard "How Great is our God" - there is a line that says

How great is our God, sing with me

How great is our God, and all will see

How great, how great is our God

Oh how I love that part:  Yes sing with me!!! Let us praise His name together... Let us sing about how great our God truly is. Can you imagine how one day we will be worshiping Him together!?!  All those voices worshiping Him... incredible!!!

On Sunday after the worship team finished singing this song, our Pastor asked the congregation that question... How great is our God? What is great about out God?

Many people raised their hands and even though I have heard many of these answers before, there was just something about standing there in worship praising God and listening to the people describe How Great He truly is. Some of the answers were:

He is our Creator

He is our Savior

He is our Healer

He is our Comforter

He is Merciful

He is Loving

He is Patient

and these were just some of the answers... there were so many more.

Name above all names

Worthy of our praise

My heart will sing

How great is our God

yes my heart will sing How great is our God - day after day after day...He and He alone is worthy of our praise.  Who is God to you?  Why is God great?  

Here is the song - in case you have never heard it or don't know it... you can sing along... and be blessed!!

With Love,

Business Plans???

I've been creating "things" for well over 15 years.  I've done my shares of invitations for all sorts of parties, planned Sweet 15 and or 16 birthday parties, weddings, parties of other sorts, decorating, conferences, retreats, etc... then shifted gears and did cards, favors, chocolates, hair flowers, etc... Some things were business... others personal and others just because... It was an incredibly fun season.

I loved working under stress... the running around, the last minute preparation, bringing dreams to reality, working all night and having my hubby as my sidekick... He was my chauffeur, my consultant, assistant, decorator, and the list goes on and on...  and he was a great sport about it (poor thing... as I know none of it truly bought him any joy but he did it because he loved me).

A time came when I had to take a break... it all just seemed like too much and alot of times it wasn't really appreciated or even fun anymore.  As more people became more computer savy, people thought they could get a consultation and then take the ideas and do their own thing... or the price was an issue, or they changed their mind...and then at the last minute come back and want help because the work was more than they realized it was going to be.

During this hiatus I've always had my group of people who have tried to encourage me to start back up again or who gave me some projects... but I always stayed in the background many times recommending them to other people.  During this time I have just continued to pray for what God would want me to do regarding my love of crafting.  In as much as crafting brings me joy... I do have a job, three awesome kids, church related functions and a busy hubby who I love to help!!  And in all that I do my ultimate desire is to bring Him glory so I have to be careful that my "wants" don't interfere with His will for my life.

But it truly is remarkable how He sometimes sends someone our way to encourage us and motivate us.  Many times I am the one pushing someone to take that step and trying to help them bring that dream for their lives a reality.  I love cheering people on, encouraging them.  In today's world we just seem to be bombarded with no you can't, you are not good enough, why do you want to do that, etc.  Words are truly powerful and we have to be careful we don't extinguish someone's dream.

This past week - a young lady by the name of Joy - has bought so much joy into my life. I really do not know her but we are friends on Facebook so we kinda sorta know each other... but God sent her my way to be a encourager to me and she has been such an incredible firecracker with such beautiful and awesome words...  It was almost as if I was listening to myself speak to a friend of mine several months ago letting her know that yes she can do this!!!  But now I was on the receiving end, and as much as I was doubting she began to send me messages encouraging me to the point that now I have several projects to do including one for her!!!  How did this happen!?!?!?

I don't know where this journey will lead - as Joy has already chosen the name for my business and has come up with a plan (it just totally cracks me up and makes me giddy).  After a long time of not being able to see where I was going - I can now begin to see a path which might take me on an interesting journey... and as I shared with my sidekick what was going on... he just smiled and looked at me and said okay.  I loved that loving and tender look because knowing I had his support spoke volumes to my heart.

So as I prepare to take a step on this path onto a new journey, I pray you will join me as we have fun sharing my adventures together... and if you know me - you know that right now I'm not focused on the destination but on the laughs I'll have along the way!!! Just have to decided if I want silver sparkly shoes or maybe some nice red ones for this journey!!!

Love in our Home

Its 9:51pm on a Saturday night...

My kiddies are almost done watching a movie...

My hubby is doing some studying for his Sunday School class tomorrow...

I'm here cuddled up on my favorite part of the sofa (my corner) under my blanket.

Tonight we went out on our Valentine's Date.  On Valentine's Day we celebrated our love for the family together... tonight it was just us - my hubster and I.  I truly love my husband and sooo appreciate the incredible love that he has for me.  Only God can give a gift like that!!

I look around and admire all of my Valentine's decor... I did a little more than usual this year... more so for the kids. There were some projects that they helped me with and others that they watched me do... but the most important part of it all was that during these projects we were able to have good conversations about life and love, not just the romantic lovey dovey love that fades away, but true love.

You see I want my children to have a deep appreciation for what real love is.  First and foremost the love that our Heavenly Father has for us and that we should have for Him.  The love toward each other, their love for us and us for them and especially the love that they see with mommy and daddy.  I want the them to grow up seeing true love displayed in our home... to see the hugs and the kisses, to hear the I love yous, to hear the silliness and sounds of mom and dad laughing like crazy... I want my daughters to see what it looks like to love and be loved as well as my son to see the same.  I don't want TV shows, magazines, or friends to teach them what love is... I want it seen at home.

The Lord has truly blessed us.  We are not a perfect marriage or have it all put together, we have our moments, our highs and lows - but we do truly do love each other and our family.

Once again I was able to see how much my children pay attention to what is going on around them and the impact it leaves on their heart.  I love that my children are able to see those special qualities in their dad.  When they were making their heart wreath for him - the question was "What do you love about your dad"... and to hear their answers was truly touching - they weren't just throwing out answers - but sharing stories and memories with those answers.  Just thinking back on that day makes my heart smile.

I am so thankful for all that the Lord has given to us - the gift of love - the ability to give it, receive it and show it.

As I sit here looking at the remnants of Valentine's day... the handmade cards, the left over chocolate wrappers, my beautiful roses and the fallen petals... I take it all in.  Soon it will all be cleaned up, the Valentine's decor will be replaced by Spring... but love will still reign in our home.  Hugs, kisses, cuddling, laughter, conversations... How can I not sing praises to the Lord and shout my adoration for Him...

Reconnecting

Several months ago I "disconnected" from different things to spend more time enjoying the holidays and spending time doing things with my family and doing things that I truly enjoyed.  Little by little I have cut down on my facebook time and I was honestly praying about whether or not to continue on with my blog.

Its funny when you stop to think about how much time one spends doing meaningless "stuff". The hours become days, the days become weeks and so on... I know that many of you can relate and understand where I am coming from.

During this time I also came to truly reconnect with the most important relationship of all and that is with Jesus Christ.  Not that I disconnected from Him... but if I am to be honest - I don't feel that I was giving Him my first fruits.  I was giving Him what I had left over after I spent all my time doing all that other "stuff".  

I have to admit that I also had a very hard time with the transition in September when my husband stepped down from youth ministry due his responsibilities of being an Elder and also as he felt led to minister to the young adults of our church. This ministry was something we did together - since the time we were dating...  got married, during my pregnancies and birth of our children.  It felt like it I would leave the hospital and a few days later I was back with the youth serving alongside my husband.  I was active in the ministry -  teaching a couple of times a week, serving, counseling, etc... and all of a sudden one day it was over.  But what I have come to realize through much prayer and study is that God had another plan for my life.  It was a new season... which I had to savor and enjoy to the fullest. As I follow Christ and serve alongside my husband in a different capacity, as I focus on the essentials, I am finding joy.

My main role is to love my husband and children, to guard my purity, to be a worker - a kind worker - at home, and to be subject to my husband so that the Word of God may not be dishonored... and any other thing that I pursue must not interfere with these priorities.  My family is the Lord's work.

It is of utmost importance to remember that our relationship with Christ comes first. We have to remember that God is God and that is all we need to know.  We have to realize that our moment by moment fellowship with Him is the most satisfying thing in our life and we must have a passion for bringing God glory in everything we do.

As we set Him always before us, we will be able to do all that we do as an act of true worship

One Day

This to me is so special - its a card someone gave to me over 20 years ago and I have held on to it all these years, it got soaked this time around with the flooding we experienced with Hurricane Sandy, but I took care of it and dried it up and its back to being beautiful...
The card is titled:

You Are a Lover of Words

One day, 

You Will Write a Book...

And it reads:

"People turn to you because you give voice to dreams, notice little things, and make otherwise impossible imaginings appear real.

You are a rare bird who thinks the world is beautiful enough to try to figure it out, who has the courage to dive into your wild mind and go swimming there.

You are someone who still believes in cloud watching, people watching, daydreaming, tomorrow, favorite colors, silver clouds, dandelions, and sorrow.

Be sacred.  Be cool.  Be wild. Go far.

Words do more than plant miracle seeds.

With writing them, you can change the world."


How totally encouraging, beautiful and true... I love cards - someone wrote this one just for me!!! And I treasure it so close to my heart.

Yes one day I will write a book...  how awesome will that be!!!  Woooo Hoooo

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving has come and gone... oh the amount of work that goes into preparing this "event" but how I love it.

Getting out the extra decorations, the special china that only see the light of day once a year, the crystal goblets that have made it one more year without one of children dropping one (yes its nutty but I love hearing that special chim)... preparing the foods... the rice, potatoes, salads and of course the Turkey. Never thought I could do a full blown turkey but so far its been working out pretty good - and no one has gotten sick!!!

My son and his beautiful girlfriend Kathy come over and we all sit around the table. Praise God my son gave me a table this year with extensions to make it longer - so we were able to open it all up this year and the joke was that we actually had to say "can you please pass the potatoes". Its just so special to be able to sit with my family (yes Kathy that includes you too) and to share a meal, to share blessings and to create memories.

One thing that I am continuously sharing with my children is how thankful and proud I am of them, and that I love them every single day. I know I have certain areas that I have to continue working on... the way I can describe it is that I am imperfect woman loved by a perfect God... and through His grace I am continuously working on those imperfections - many times I fall so very short that I just want to get an eraser and start over again... but praise God that He does give me another opportunity to start over again. One wonderful thing about my Lord and Savior is that He is always showering me with words of love and hope and encouragement... and this is what I want to pass on to my children and to my husband and all those who cross my path. I have to say its not easy - because our natural desire is to complain, to be critical, to want more, to nit pick, to have it be all about us... oh but my goal is to be able to speak words of affirmation and love.

God...the God who created the Heavens and the earth...
God said and there was...
and
He gifted us with that power...

Our words become the mirror in which others see themselves... Words are one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and amazingly, God has entrusted them to you and me...

Sharon Jaynes writes: "How desperately men and women long for an encouraging word. They need a cheerleader to tell them, You can do it!, Don't give up! They long for a fellow journeyman to bolster them up when the road is too arduous to travel alone. They yearn for teammates to rally behind them, reminding them they are not isolated in this game called life.

How long will our words echo in the hearts and minds of our child(ren), our husbands, our friends, fellow believers, and the world? For all eternity, to the end of the age."

Wow our words will echo in the hearts of our children, our husbands our loved ones for all eternity... our words leave such an impression.

So yes this Thanksgiving and each day I remind myself to let my Lord and Savior know how thankful I am to Him for the sacrifice He made, for His love, His grace, His mercy... and then I share with my loved ones how thankful I am for them... I want to fill their hearts, I want to pour these words into their hearts... to the point that it is spilling over so they can pour it into the lives of all who cross their path... that when I am gone my words will still echo for years to come of love, encouragement, and memories...

Moments not Things

It is true what they say that what we take with us are not things... but moments, memories.

I am so blessed to have children that are constantly filling my mind and heart with moments that I can look back on and smile and that I will cherish for a lifetime.

It can be from a picture that was drawn of the how they see the family... or a report they wrote in school about the many things they love about mom... their gestures... how you catch them looking at you with a look only a child can give so full of love and innocence... or the wonderful comments and remarks they make.

One that keeps coming back to me time and time again is from my Princess Peanut Priscilla... oh that little girl is so very special... there are moments that she drives me absolutely bonkers... or that I might just lose my hearing from her high pitched screams... what she lacks in size she makes up for in attitude and vocally... My darling Priscilla has one very very spunky attitude.

She is a gift from God - just like all my children are - but more so her... why??? Well she was a surprise, a very big surprise. I didn't even know how to break the news to my husband when I found out I was expecting again, it was the funniest thing!!!

You see my beautiful little girl who is six loves to cuddle up with me... she is petite so she makes a space for herself where there might seem to be none. A couple of nights ago she cuddled up next to me and inhaled... and it just makes my heart laugh because she has done this so many times. And she said... "mommy what is it about you that smells so good all the time... all the time I smell you, you smell so good and sooo special". I looked down at her and smiled (I didn't know "special" had a scent) and she said "mommy I love you, I want to smell like you all the time".

God knew - oh yes He did that my life would not be complete without a spunky little girl who is full of sugar and spice and everything nice - with a dash (or maybe two) of attitude and sarcasm... who can make my bone marrow shake like jello... but who would have a heart of gold and would melt my heart.

God's surprises are truly the best ones... and I so love the memories He is blessing me with through my beautiful children.