Romans 15:13

My sweet friend, Sheridan, shared a verse with me this morning that I very much needed. So I thought I'd share it with all of you. This is from my NIV version: Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all the joy & peace as you trust in Him, that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." When she sent it to me, she filled in my name in place of the "you's". It is a great prayer to not only remember for ourselves, but to offer it up to God on behalf of other's, filling in their names. May we always remember that we can abound in the hope of God our Father.

Is this what getting old means?

One of my clients sent me some funny pics and when I saw this one it made me realize that we are all slowly going "downhill!" Good to know it happens to even the Arnold's of the world. I am a bit curious at why he thinks he should still wear a speedo (although I'm pretty sure they should be banned altogether, muscles or no muscles)!

Advice for the Day

"When pouring a nice cold refill of Dr. Pepper into your cup, you must first remove the lid & straw!" (Yes, my morning started w/ a complete mess!)

Priorities Priorities Priorities!

Okay, so here's something I've struggled with for as long as I can remember. Really, what makes something a priority and how do you really decide the order of those priorities? I mean there are the all important things like work, family, significant other, friends, church/ministries, etc. Plus all the other things you just want to do in life. Ok, so, if you've got all these things, how do you really prioritize? I really wish there was some magical equation that we could all follow so that there would be consistency & acceptance throughout. But, we all know that is not the case and each person decides for themselves what & whom they classify a priority and in what order those things & people will be placed. I'll be the first to admit that it's very hard for me to understand and/or accept when someone else doesn't seem to prioritize in the same manner I do, I mean, come on, of course I think my priority list is the correct one! That being said, of course, I realize this is the wrong way to look at it, but it's so easy to get caught up in the way I see things & prioritize. So, I'll share with you how I'm working to combat this current struggle in my life. Prayer will always be at the top of my list as a solution to any struggle, but in addition, I'd like to suggest for myself & others, the best thing to do is quit thinking about myself/yourself. If I'm focusing on others & God being #1, then I truly believe all else will work itself out. Now, that doesn't mean that it will be in the way I want or think it should, but if God is truly #1 in my life, then I'm not focused on myself & my desires, but the desires of my God & Father. And man, I LOVE to think all about my desires, hopes & dreams, but God didn't put me on this earth for those 3 things. He put me on this earth for His purpose, His desires, His hopes & dreams for all His children to come to know Him. So, put God #1 and continually pray that He will help you prioritize every other temporary thing/person here in this world, He WILL show you the way.

60 Years is a Long Time

This one goes out to my grandparents, also known as Paka B and Papa! Today they celebrate 60 years together. I have trouble imagining 60 years, but that might be because I'm over 30 now, which means if I got married tomorrow, my husband & I would have to live to be 91 years old to achieve this miraculous event. But since my grandma was married at 16, she is a young 76 years old. Aren't they a beautiful couple? I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge their 60 years of a Christ-centered marriage full of love. May God grant them many more years to come...

You haven't lived if...

You haven't lived if you've never had a chocolate cake w/ bavarian creme inside topped with fudge icing. Well last night, 5 of us celebrated Joyce's birthday. I had my camera the whole night, but how is it that when there is a baby in the room that is the only thing we take pics of...so I have a pic of John Paul and his momma Lynna holding him. I was also instructed to take a picture of the beautiful cake I made! (Confession: I did NOT make this cake...I may be able to bake, but I can not decorate a cake worth a flip. This is the work of Lucy's Cakes in Austin.)

My dog is a cat!

I'm pretty sure there are moments when Dexter has absolutely no idea he is a dog!

My Sweet Dexter

The Opposite Sex

This post is inspired by my coworker, Jesse. He & I often discuss the differences in the opposite sex, both thinking that the opposite gender is completely crazy sometimes and this morning we had a doozy of a conversation. We were talking about a couple of ladies in his life and some of their behavior. While I call it our "crazy" gene, I believe that our "crazy" gene comes out of love and passion for the man in our life and/or the fear of losing them. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not justifying behavior like Kate Hudson in the movie, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. While it was pretty hysterical and had me laughing so hard I thought I might split open, I would never say that was acceptable behavior. So that being said, I'll go back to the "crazy" gene, you know the one I'm talking about...men are nodding their head in agreement right now, while the women have that surprised look on their face, like, "No, not me!" Oh yes you, every woman has some degree of this and hopefully for you men, you find a lady who only slightly shows her "crazy" gene and does it in more endearing ways rather than psycho behavior. I'm now inspired to come up w/ a "crazy" gene list and will start working on that, but in the meantime, here is my thought for the day on the subject: "When the woman you are trying to snag off the market calls you and wants to chat, don't tell her you'll call her back when you get done talking to Suzy(just picked a girl's name), just ignore Suzy and take the bull by the horns! For the love, it's not rocket science!"

Advice for the Day

"When your road rage is about to overtake you, roll down the window & blow a kiss to the other driver!"

I can assure you it works like a charm everytime (or so I hear, surely you don't think I'd ever do that)!

Quote/Thought for the Day

I'm going to try to come up with quotes, thoughts or advice everyday from topics that are on my mind. Today exercise and/or the lack of exercise is on my mind. So today's quote is:

"IF YOU CAN'T STOP EATING, EXERCISE; IF YOU DON'T EXERCISE,PRAY!"(Do you think God answers the prayers of over-eating & lazy people by allowing them to NOT gain weight?-I'll let you know how it turns out!)

Feeling Preachy (not peachy) Today

For all you Church of Christ ladies, here's what you need to do. You simply need to create a blog so you can preach too! If you aren't C of C, you may not get the joke, but I can assure you that it was funny. Okay, so my topic today is prayer. Yes, most of the time I blog about funny stuff and/or my stupidity, but there are days I just need to share my heart and this is one of those days... Why is it that no matter how many times we see the "power in prayer" and all the blessings that come from prayer, we still manage to neglect that part of our relationship with God. There have been days when I'm laying bed at night and realize that I did not pray one single time and that makes me feel ashamed, imagine how God feels about it. The last few months I've really been trying to create a stronger, more stable prayer life for myself. It's amazing the level of peace it can bring even in hard times. Some of the most lonely nights, prayer has brought me such a sense of being surrounded & protected. I can't imagine being single, 31 and not a Christian. Without God, I imagine it would be unbearable at times. But God continually shows me all the blessings that surround me and the loved ones in my life. I know I sound like life is all roses, it certainly is not. In fact, this week has been a REALLY hard week for me. I won't go into details for the sake of others, but between myself struggling w/ something, friends losing loved ones, daughters having to care for their mothers who can't care for themselves anymore, babies being born just over 1 lb, and "talking a friend down from the ledge (so to speak...)", I've seen so much pain in these past 5 days. It saddens & affects me in ways I could never clearly express. My heart breaks for them. It shames me that I can sometimes let MY life consume me and not focus on the needs of others.

My prayer is this:
*To have the same passion for God that I do for life
*To ALWAYS put other's needs in front of mine
*To be a light in this world of darkness
*To spend more time in prayer w/ the Father above
*To show the love of Christ as others have shown me
*To remember that even though sometimes I feel like I might break, God will not stretch me beyond what I can handle. And that through these "stretching" times, I will continue to grow in Him.
*To have patience w/ God when He puts me on a different or new path not knowing where it will lead

Okay, my preaching is done for today. May God bless you in unimaginable ways and may you never forget to thank Him for each and every one.