rest

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety." 

Psalm 4:8

I needed this today. Really, these past few weeks. With my new job, adjusting to new schedules, and just everyday life, it is comforting to turn to a verse like this. 

The Lord is our comfort. He is our place of rest and protection. When life seems crazy, or even in repetitive motion, we turn to Him. He is the author of our life, the protector of our heart, the lover of our soul, and soother of our minds. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

converse

Or my scrubs to work.. whichever!! I'm not scared to do either.. in fact I love those "silly shoes," as Cooper calls them! He just got a blue pair!

Happy Monday!

fingers crossed

What an exciting weekend!!

Friday night was nothing short of wonderful!!! I can promise you that.

Saturday I watched the olympics and had delightful dinner with Kirsten. It has become quite the weekend tradition to eat mexican food while sharing latest developments and laughs. I love my dearest friend.

Today I watched the kids. We watched UP and went to get ice cream at Maggie Moos. All in the dreary/lazy rainy weather.

Life is wonderful.. and I can't wait to share more about it! Keep your fingers crossed.

God is faithful. Have a wonderful week!

your today

If you trust God for your eternity, you can trust Him for your today.

I rest in that trust today.

Happy weekend!!

yes!

Today is my Friday!!!! 

Work/ today was great! 

BUT best of all, its 55 degrees outside and so sunny!! 

Thank you, Thursday!!

remember to

Don't mind me while I brag.. Part 2

As I mentioned last week, my youngest sister was on Fayetteville High School's Colors Day court last Friday night. Here are a few pictures Kirsten took of my gorgeous sister Alex and my family..

We are so proud of you AlPal and love you so much!!!

 As for this weekend.. I had a great one! I spent the weekend with great friends, my family, lots of little kids, and had a the best Valentines Day I have had in about 4 years!! 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a very special Valentines Day! 

God is good.. all the time!

happy 2.14.10

Voice of Truth

by Casting Crowns


Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves


To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand


But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"


Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth


Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand


But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"


But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me


I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

How awesome? How truthful? How refreshing? How powerful? HOW WONDERFUL, is this song?

 Its my current "on repeat" song. I love it! 

Listen to it here

Our Father is with us! He works in us! He battles the enemy that tries and tempts us. We CAN NOT do anything without our Savior. He reminds us that in everything, "Do NOT be afraid, for I am with you!" 


*****************


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!
For yesterday! My heart was smiling from side to side yesterday when crawled into bed and read all your sweet comments, and to check out your wonderful blogs! You truly made my day, and I can't thank you enough! 
You are wonderful, don't ever forget it!!

a request..

So I have a simple request from you, and in return, I will do it for you also. 

Over the past few weeks I have been watching who comes to my blog. It simply makes my day when I see all the people that come and go. I love it!! But, I do feel kind of.. um.. out of if?? Under the radar?? Clueless?? Rude??.. I really don't know what word I am looking for is.. Other than I would love to know who you are (my status reader only tells me the town and state you are in)! You know all about me but I want to know about you too! That is one of the greatest things I love about blogs, is connecting with people.

All I am asking is that if you read my blog often, will you please admit to it?? Will you please say you follow this publicly, so it will tell me your sweet name?

It would TOTALLY make my day to see that more then 21 people follow this! Even if you don't have a blog of your own, you can still push the "follow" button at the top OR you can scroll towards the bottom where you see my "Followers" and click that too! THEN, once you do that I will know who you are AND I will be able visit and follow your blog if you have one! How much fun will that be??

I really don't think you understand how happy it makes me to know that people actually care about what all I have to say! I love all your comments too!! You guys make my day, and I just want to sincerely thank you for that!! 

I hope your Wednesday was spectacular!! 

five totally random facts

1. This is the new Heinz ketchup package if you haven't seen it. How cool is that? You can squeeze it out OR dip from it. It's the simple things like this.. love it. 

2. We are getting more snow in NWA as I type, and have been all day long. Suprise suprise, I know. I'm about ready to clicked into my skis. This is getting rediculous. 

(Not sure who this kid is, but they made me laugh)

3. I would do almost anything to be in Destin, FL right now. I am in desperate need of my dresses, swimsuits, and flipflops. 

4. Today I was in a snow strom hurry to get out of the house and off to work. (Remember the driveway issues I have.. I was stressed.) In such a hurry that I walked out of the house and jumped in my car and didn't notice until it was too late that I was going to work with my neon pink, cuticle covered, smeared finger nails, that Libby did for me Sunday afternoon. Remember the pedicure this summer? She's 4. It made for a good morning laugh. 

Today I am thankful that my job requires that I wear latex gloves. 

5. The Bachelor. I have nothing to say about this. I am beginning to get annoyed. I don't want to believe what I hear, the "rumors" of what happens in the end... but its not looking too promising of them being wrong. 

God is wonderful! Goodnight friends!

the mayonnaise jar

A professor stood before his philosophy class
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, friends, and favorite passions –
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

'It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

I got this from an email I just received.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Don't mind me while I brag.. Part 1

My youngest sister, Alex, is on Fayetteville High School's Colors Day court!!!!!!! They announced this today at the pep rally and I could not be more proud of my little AlPal!!

Colors Day is like the basketball homecoming for those of you that don't know. I will follow up with part 2 after next Friday (week from today) basketball game when she walks the court looking beautiful!

I love you Peter, and SO proud of you!!!!!!!

(Alex answers to about 15 different nick names, "Peter" and "AlPal" are the two I go with, never just "Alex".. Just a little FYI)

Follow up from last post..

You know you are best friends when your blog topic is the same and you had no idea. I've been at work all day, posted my post and now catching up on everyone else's. Ha, oops!!

Add it to the list KB, another thing we did the same. Oh goodness...

02.05.10

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!

Dear John, THE MOVIE, comes out tomorrow!

And you better believe it that the bestie and I WILL be having lunch and we WILL be feasting our eyes on this motion picture ASAP.

I assume the book is better, but I'm not going in with a closed mind because those previews.. oh man those previews.. they just look delightful!

And... tomorrow is Friday!!

Psalm 116

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice;

He heard my cry for mercy.

Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Then I called to the name of the Lord;

"O Lord, save me!"

The Lord is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

The Lord protects the simple hearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the Lord has been good to you.

For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling

that I may walk before the Lord

in the land of the living.

I believed; therefore, I said,

"I am greatly afflicted."

And in my dismay I said,

"All men are liars."

How can I repay the Lord

for all the goodness to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all His people.

Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of His saints.

O Lord, truly I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant

you have freed me from my chains.

I will sacrifice a thank offering to you

and call on the name of the Lord.

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all His people,

in the courts of the house of the Lord.

God is so powerful. He listens. He heals. Don't lose hope, don't be quick to plan. Be still and quiet. He knows what is best for each of us, in HIS own perfect timing of it all.

We have so much to be thankful for.

Thank you Lord for loving us.

Slush

So my driveway is about a football field and a half long.. lined with pine trees, and covered in gravel. In result, it is the last driveway in this town to ever melt. Last night I had a bit of trouble getting out of the driveway to go to Lauren's Bachelor watching party, I made it finally, but I was late thanks to the driveway. Today was a different story.

At about 2:15ish I got into my car to go pick up kids from school. I have to pick them up at 2:50. But I had to go get the after school snacks and gas in my car. So 2:15ish it was! The thought of the driveway's state wasn't a concern because it was later in the day, I thought SURELY some of it would have melted compared to last nights incident.

Melted? Oh yeah, into a totally muddy, puddled, slushy, nastiness, snow mess.

In my car I went. I would pick up just enough speed and HELLO.. a dog (we have 2 big dogs- a black lab and an English Mastiff) would jump out in front of me, causing me to have to stop. Stopping in snow makes you literally have to stop and back up, if you didn't know. So I would reverse. Starting all over again. Then, I would get to a point where my back tires would just spin, so I stopped. Backed up, got out, and got a hand full of hay (it was the first thing I thought of) to put in the slick spot. (Yes, we have hay, we have big animals that eat it.) So then I would try again. Going... going... pasted the spot with hay.. slide a little.. going.. HELLO dumb dog. Back up. Start again. Another slick spot. More hay. Start again. Slide. Back up. Go. Dog. Stop. Back up. Slide. Tears. Dogs barking. Frustration increasing. Go. Tires spinning. Mud and snow tossing. Tears.

I think you get the picture. Times about 28 times.

To make a long story short, throughout this process.. I used up all the hay. Used a bucket of ashes, because that really does, true story, help in the snow and getting unstuck. At one point I picked up a stick in attempt to get the snow away from something, and instead the lab thought I was playing fetch with him and took it out of my hand and ran away with it. Nearly slid into a tree (Thank you Lord for stopping that). I was totally covered in hay, ashes, and mud-slush from head to toe. Screamed at the top of my lungs and cried tears of frustration. And I am furthest from an emotional person. I had had it!

At 3:06 I got out of my driveway by a huge miracle. Might I add, I drive a 4Runner. Its not like I was in a little car fighting this battle. But the thing with the Runner is this, it has some sliding protector thing, that locks up your tires or something.. I really don't even know.. I could be totally off. BUT I do know that it makes this beeping noise, that probably had a lot to do with the frustration level. I also know that when it gets to this state of operation that it doesn't move and there is nothing you can do about it. Frustrating.

I hope you are laughing. I am now. Several hours later. I don't think I have ever been so frustrated in my whole life. For almost a whole hour. I'll post pictures tomorrow just to paint the picture better for you.

In other words, my car is parked at the church that is to the right of our house. The driveway wasn't an option tonight.

Hope your Tuesday wasn't frustrating!

welcome!

Welcome to February everybody!!

I can't believe it is already here, where did January go??

On the topic of "love," I sure hope Mr. Jake from the Bachelor gets his act together tonight. Not sure how much more drama one show can handle..

Hope your Monday was marvelous!!!