Lets Give Them Something to Talk About

We have a manufactured home. Therefore it was built in a factory and brought to our lad and placed on here.  There are some definite advantages to this, our house doesn't look like a manufactured home, doesn't feel like the typical old school one, but there are also some major disadvantages to it.  One thing that we have noticed is that our pipes get clogged ALL the time.  Currently our stand up shower has become more like a 3 inch bath tub.  Prior to that, our sinks were filling up with water.  My handy and handsome hubby was able to take the drain off and clean it all out so that our sinks weren't overflowing while washing our faces or brushing our teeth or just washing our hands...  Unfortunately, there is no real good way to get to the drain under the shower.  We have tried different approaches. but it is perpetually clogged up and I think that we may even go the plumber route.  It is nasty what comes out of the clogs, it is gross stuff- hair, black tarry goop that ha

So I have learned that some people are just photogenic.  You can catch them in the middle of anything and they look like a million bucks doing whatever they are doing.  I, however, could never be a model.  I don't have that "photogenic" quality.  If you catch me in the middle of doing something, I do not look quite right.  Even during some staged photos, my appearance is not quite what I want it to be.  Unfortunately, photographs are what people usually look at if they don't know you.  They can judge you by the photographs.  Even when you think that you are having an "on" day, something might be off and it doesn't end up how you want it.  You don't come across how you want to. Just recently my little sister got married.  HURRAY!!!!  I had a great time at the wedding, but all the pictures of me look 100% awful.  I don't know if it was how I had my hair or what, but I looked terrible.  Now I have had my share of good pictures too, those are the p

You know  this past week we had company and i didn't want to ditch them in the morning times to sit at my computer and type out my entire devotion.  Is that bad?  In a way i think that it is because I didn't express my thoughts on paper as I do love to do.  In another way, it was amazing because the friends that I had staying here have an incredible heart for the Lord and I was encouraged through everything that we did together.  They live in a different world, well really just a different country, but in their world, the Muslims are the dominating force.  They have very few Christian friends that surround them and people persecute the Christians that are there.  They were explaining to me that so much of the population in Asia doesn't even know who Jesus is.  Could that be?  Is that possible, people today still don't know who Jesus is?  A story that they told at our open house really struck me.  There was this intelligent young women who went off to university and was

Sometimes you have the best intentions are heart.   You offer to do something thinking that you will have the time, energy and effort to be able to do it without a problem, but then those good intentions come back and bit you in the butt.   You end us with issues that you weren’t intending, kids sick, time being sucked away.   Then people get upset or angry even or you just feel like you have failed.   Sometimes, even with the best intentions, things just don’t work out how you planned.   Even if the people that you were working with do not get upset, you do because you know that you said that you were going to do one thing, and didn’t end up doing it and it just eats at you. I can’t tell you the number of times I have been in this situation.   The most memorable is when I was meeting someone for the first time and I offered to help them with a power point presentation.   She gave me all these pictures and asked me to do it and I told her that I could and I could get music with it bec

Has anyone else ever noticed that it is the people that we are the most similar with that we sometimes can’t get along with AT ALL…   Well for me, that is the case.   Those that are leaders and bossy (like me) can’t handle being bossed around unless they want to be.   Those that are quiet and don’t take charge, can’t hang out with others that are that way because they get bored.   Some people are middle of the road and can get along with everyone, man how I wish that was my chemistry make up. I had a revelation yesterday – my oldest daughter is JUST like me.   She wants what she wants, when she wants it and wont listen to anything, or anyone telling her no.   She will do what she wants, how she wants to.   She is strong willed.   I am strong willed.   It leads to quite a few personality clashes.   There isn’t anything wrong with being strong willed.   It can be quite an amazing quality.   Some of the greatest leaders have been strong willed.   It is when two strong wills collide that

It is so easy to have doubt.   Doubt that Jesus was really who we believe that He is or that He was really the ONE.   I know that I have had my fair share of doubt and it has only come recently too.   Satan is trying to get me to stop pursuing a relationship with Christ, and so he is implanting these seeds of doubt in my mind.   Like, “was Jesus really THAT arrogant to think that HE was the son of God?” or “People like Joseph Smith claimed to be the be-all-end-all for his religion – Mormons only really look at his good things that he did, not the bad (of which there was plenty…)”   It is so easy to say – “why do I believe that Jesus is the son of God?” You know- the Bible wasn’t always the Bible.   It was written all over the place, it was brought together by people to give us a glimpse into who and what God really is and was and is to come.   It was written all over the world, in different parts of the world at different times in the world.   These people didn’t set out and say,

“ Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossiper, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Zaccheus was short, Abraham was old… and Lazarus was dead...God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the CALLED!!” My friend had it on their facebook and it hit home.   I am no where near perfect, so far from I can hardly see perfect in the distance.   Seeing perfect is a dot for me, but the fact is that God loves me, he has called me and has qualified me to do what needs to be done. David was no where near perfect either, he had brought a married woman into his bed, had her husband killed in battle, and so many other things, yet he was a great king and a great servant of God.   I think that he was such a great servant because of verses like this.   Psalm 143: 9-12 “Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I

About 8 months I asked my husband for a new mattress because ours was really rather uncomfortable.   We instead got a foam topper.   When we went to put the topper on, we realized that the seams on my side of the bed had come out and the entire side of my mattress was hanging off the mattress.   We like to stretch our dollar as far as it can go and my husband didn’t see anything wrong with our mattress because it was still pretty comfortable according to him.   Well I am never one to insist on something- I might ask over and over again, but ultimately, I allow him to officially make the big decisions.   Well, the topper helped for a day – then I was back to sleeping on the couch for a firmer bed, and just not sleeping well at all.   I have been waking up with lower back pain which has lead to upper back pain.   My body has not felt like it’s 29 year-old self.   I have always had some back issues, but it has really escalated.   Finally for our anniversary, my husband says that we are g

The verse that really stuck out to me in the Bible reading that I did yesterday was Romans 8:5 “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their mind set on what the Spirit desires.”   I really like that verse- it is common sense but it is deeper than that too.   So I was thinking during my sleepless night last night…   has anyone else noticed the spelling of the word “night” has now changed to “nite”?   I inquired to some of my friends why and they informed me it was due to texting…   it has become an accepted way to write the word now because the “g” and “h” were on the same key (back in the day before the little keyboards), and that it was too hard for people to push that key two times in a row b/c they had to wait between.   Anyway – I think this is a ridiculous reason to change the official spelling of the word, but all media has tended to pick it up too.   For me, I will al

Sometimes you don’t realize how addicted you are to something until it is gone or you just don’t have access to it.   I am like that with caffeine.   I had no idea how addicted I was to my morning coffee until I decided that I wasn’t going to drink it one morning.   The result wasn’t earth shattering or surprising, but I was dragging.    I was not alert or ready to take on the day at all.   I was yawning and falling asleep during conversations with friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time.   It actually took me a few minutes to put my finger on why I was so incredibly out of it! I really enjoy sitting down with my one (or 4) cups of coffee in the mornings.   I wish I could say that I got peace and quiet while drinking them, but it is usually a sip here, a sip there.   Lately, with the weather so hot- I have started making iced coffee…   yum!   Which I actually can drink much faster too – hahaha.   Anyway – have you ever forgotten to read the Bible in the morning?   Monday morning I

Today is my 8-year wedding anniversary.   Let me tell you, it has been a roller coaster.   People look at us and think – “they are so happy together”.   And we really are, now…   There was a time when I was surrounding myself with bad influences who were encouraging me to look at all the negatives of our relationship.   They were asking all the right questions at all the wrong times and making me really question our relationship.   I was so frustrated, angry, saddened and confused.   I was hurt because those were all the things that I was seeing.   I wasn’t focusing on the real, I was focusing on the imagined.   He doesn’t love me because I never get flowers.   He doesn’t love me because I always have to say it first.   He doesn’t love me because…. It was difficult.   The people that I was surrounding myself with were encouraging me to do things for myself and to be true to myself.   I didn’t know what “myself” was.   I didn’t know where to turn.   Well, I did, I just chose not to tur

You know those movies that you grow up with that even years upon years later, you can still quote?   I guess I never realized how much I watched some of these movies when I was younger.   I put Aladdin in today and my girls sat there amused and enthralled.   I found myself able to say the entire movie- every line to the movie with it.   I have been that way with some of my kids’ favorites like Shrek, 1-4, but we hardly ever watch Aladdin.   It goes to show, things that we are exposed to when we are younger really stick with us.   And repetition really does help.   I was exposed to a lot of Bible stories as a child.   Every Sunday in Sunday school, my parents were very particular to teach me from the Bible and inform me of the specific things that happened.   I am able to draw upon those Bible stories in my every day life.   The other day when we were visiting with some friends, we were discussing first words and the first time that we recall cussing.   How the reaction of the parents

There are times that I look at what is happening around the world and ask God – WHY?   HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?   I look at the draught and famine spreading in Somalia and I am devastated that parents are having to choose which children will live and which children will die.   I am heartbroken at the fact that these people are having to leave their children, who are part of them and they obviously love, to go find ways to provide for them.   Then there is little to no education that they bring to the table to get them jobs to provide for their families so they sit there begging, only getting enough food and water for themselves and getting no money to send home to their families.   I sit and yell at God- WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?   Why don’t you do something about it?   But really – I think that God needs to be looking at me saying – “WHY DON’T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?   You sit there in a nice home, comfortable, living within your means, there are hungry and poor around you, bu

Sometimes I just want to take the easy way out.   I don’t want to fight anymore for what is right, I just want to quit and leave and do something drama free.   I don’t want to get involved in any more drama or fight with people that I care for.   I don’t want to be looked down on, rejected, I just don’t want to…   But again – look how many times “I” is used in those statements.   I am selfish so often.   What if Biblical times preachers said that.   What if they said – I am sorry, I am not going to fight for Christ because we are now being persecuted.   What if Paul had said, “I am in jail, I am being persecuted, I am just done.   I know the truth and I am going to heaven, screw everyone else”.   What if Noah had said, “everyone is making fun of me, there isn’t an ocean around here, and we don’t even know what he is talking about.   This boat is a lot of work and I am over it”.   We have to follow God’s guidance, God’s vision, His will- if He is telling us to quit or to step back, bu

Sometimes the strangest people become friends.   They seem like the least likely to pair up and become really close friends.   I have had some good friends over the years.   It is amazing when you find that one person that you just “click” with.   That seems to understand you really well and understand where you are coming from with everything.   It is even more amazing when your families get along well and everything just seems to fall into place.   It has been a while since I have really found that connection with anyone or any family.   There have been some great friends that I am just friends with, or me and my girls are just friends with, but to find someone that your whole family feels so comfortable with and so wonderful with is rare and far between.   I have blogged about how friends are important before, but not as important as your relationship with Jesus.   When Christ is the basis of the friendship that you share, it is a rare and beautiful thing.   My husband is a do-er…

Have you ever let something consume your thoughts, your whole life?   Have you let it seep into every aspect of your life including your health?   Dwelling on drama is never a good thing.   I have been completely guilty of this in the past.   Drama is something that can sometimes go away but sometimes it can just sit there, build up and become an infection.   I have a friend that has had an ear ache for over a month now, actually going on one and a half months.   At first, they just hoped that it would go away.   It didn’t hurt that badly, just was annoying.   Then it escalated, they were unable to sleep at night due to pain, over the counter medicines weren’t helping- and this friend finally went to the doctor.   To no one’s surprise, it was an ear infection.   The doctor prescribed a drug and said if it didn’t feel better, to call in a few days.   Have you ever noticed that when they say that it almost always will fall on a weekend then?   So it didn’t feel better after two days and

We had friends over yesterday and the kids were using our little pool.   It is amazing just how many devotions you can get from one thing!   HAHAHA- The pool has been a great source teaching me so much about life in general.   While they were playing we realized that a lot of the water had evaporated out and we decided to put the hose in it and fill it up.   For those of you that don’t know – we have one of those inflatable ring Intex pools that as you fill it up – the walls go up and the ring just stays on the surface of the water.   It isn’t a large pool – only 12’ around and 36” deep, but with an almost 2 and a 3 year old it is just the right size for us.   So we had the hose in filling up the pool so that it would have more water in it and we forgot about the hose!   We had done this once before and the pool overfilled and then it drained the ENTIRE pool since once the water started going, it didn’t stop…   We have actually re-leveled and re-filled this little pool 3 times this ye

Just the other day I was on facebook (surprised?) and saw something really depressing happen.   My friend’s relationship status went from married to single.   The same friend who’s wife and he had been flirting on facebook just months before.   A friend who has a daughter with my other (and closer) friend, his wife and then a son who his wife has been like a mother to.   I haven’t been in touch with this couple very much in the past few years.   We moved away and our relationship kind of fizzled out as many friendships end up doing.   I don’t know the story of what has happened in the past few months and I don’t know what their reasoning is, but I have to tell you, it is depressing.   This happens the week before my husband and I are to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. There is an easy way and a hard way in life.   The easy way is simple.   It is the me-first generation attitude that I have blogged about before.   I am worth more than this, I deserve better, I don’t see us working ou