TWILIGHT Movie Trailer

I'm reading the books that this movie is made after right now and they are great. There are 4 books in the series and I've read 3 of them in a 2 week time period!! I'm telling you they are sooooo good! Check out the movie trailer! I'll definitely be in the theatres on November 21 when this comes out!!

A Much Needed Reminder

I have to open by saying, our God is just too good to us. He meets us right where we are and just the way we are, no strings attached. He invites us to come into His presence to simply sit and enjoy Him. He brings messages of hope right when we need them. I'm listening to a song on my ipod right now titled, "Jesus Paid It All," which says:

"Praise the One who paid my debt, and raised this life up from the dead!"

God is the giver of life, the giver of hope, the giver of compassion, the giver of good, the giver of healing, the giver of forgiveness, and on and on it could go. Today, in the moment I'm living, God is the giver of forgiveness and because of that I should be the same. The following question was raised in chapel today, "Has anyone ever sinned against me as much as I have sinned against God?" And, of course the answer is NO! To some this may sound astounding and ridiculous, but I've learned and am still learning that it is true. My sin against Christ far outweighs any thing and every thing anyone could do to me.

I'm not saying the stuff that happens to us doesn't hurt and bring pain to our lives. Trust me, I'm the first to tell you that it does. But, what I am saying with confidence, is that if we do not forgive the offences brought against us, then what right do we have to ask forgiveness for our sins from God? And, not only that, but if we do not forgive the offences brought against us we are going to end up some pitiful bitter people. And, I do not want to be known as a bitter person. Another thing the speaker in chapel said today was, "you don't give people what they deserve, you give them what they need." WOW! Amazingly True and just what I needed to hear today. Would it be easy for me to chew people up one side and down the other for the pain they've caused me? YES, in fact it would be TOO easy for me to do that. But, I've learned that I cannot respond in this way. It will not do any good, it will only cause more damage than what was originally intended. So, what do I do? I stop and ask myself, will God be proud of my response to this situation and will I be proud of myself for the response I give? Ten out of ten times, when I stop long enough to ask myself these two questions I feel much better and glad for the way I responded.

Have you ever....

DISCLAIMER:
I'm venting and really DO NOT want any conversation regarding this blog post! I just need a safe place to let it all out, so my poor husband doesn't catch it all. And, it's my blog so I can do that!

Have you ever let your frustration out on someone who did not deserve it? I'm sure we all have. I mean come on, we're human, right? Well, I let my poor husband have it this morning for something that, bless his heart, he has no control over, and he doesn't even know what the source of my frustration was this morning. I just let him have it and think it was something he did wrong when in reality it's something bugging me that I just don't want to talk about. The quote, "we hurt those that are closest to us" is ringing so true this morning. I have several sources of frustration in my life that I very rarely talk about. 3 to be exact! And, I've just about had it with all 3. I'm trying to keep my head together but it's like anything will set these feelings off and I'm trying to understand how to deal with it so that I don't keep taking it out on my husband or anyone else that I'm close to for that matter.

I have to tell you, I have one of the most understanding, loving, caring, forgiving husbands! They just don't make them like him anymore! I'm a very lucky, blessed woman for having Rodney Williams in my life. He's takes a lot off of me, but still treats me with the same tenderness and affection that he always has.

Isn't that just so frustrating? What is our deal? Why can't we just go to the source and let them or it have it instead of those that are trying to love us through our pain and frustration? AHHHH, it just makes me want to scream!

I'm sure someone else can relate to this, that's why I'm sharing it. If someone can learn a lesson from my life so that they don't have to make it in their's then I'm all for that! Man, life is just plain hard sometimes and we've got to learn how to NOT be controlled by our feelings, but by the Spirit of God. It's a daily battle, but it is a battle worth fighting.

Ok, I'm done now. Thanks for letting me vent!
Let's move on to prettier and brighter things now!

Our Weekend

We had a nice weekend, that of course went by way too fast. Rodney had lots of studying to do Saturday so he headed to the library and me and Joshua went to the zoo! We had such a great time together. We just took our time and enjoyed our time together, just mommy and son! I've got pictures from our zoo trip, but I'll have to put them up later because I don't have them here with me at work. We did one of those little photo booths where the machine takes your picture and the pictures turned out so cute! I'll definitely put those up for you all to see. We got 2 copies of it, and Joshua walked around the rest of the time holding his and he kept looking at it saying "that's my mommy and my joshua." He's so cute. We hung out at the zoo for about 2 hours and then went to pick Rodney up for lunch and then headed home for nap time. Rodney did more studying and I went to the gym.

On Sunday, we did our church thing in the morning and last night and in between we did our NAP THING! It was so great, just sleeping and relaxing all Sunday afternoon.

Oh, and I forgot to report in that at my weigh in at weight watchers last Thursday, for the week I lost 2.4 lbs giving me a total of 33 pounds lost!!! YAY! It won't be long and I will finally hit my goal weight!!!! :)

The Incredibly Awesome B-Team

This is a team picture of the awesome B-team! We are soooo excited because we scored our first 2 goals at last nights game!!! YAY B-TEAM!!

Bible Study

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to lead a Bible Study during the lunch hour here at work and today was our first meeting and we had 10 ladies show up! YAY GOD!! We are going to meet every other Monday during lunch and have a time of Bible Study and prayer together. I'm so excited about this opporunity and for the privilege to teach and share with these precious ladies. God is opening so many wonderful doors for me to teach and I'm so thrilled to see how he's going to bless this time with this group of ladies. It's so neat because each one of us are at different stages in our lives and we can learn so much from each other.

Well, back to work for me! :)

Fun With Nana at the Zoo

Playing Around the House

Taking a Stroll Through Time

There is this very fun website (http://yearbookyourself.com/) that I went to and took myself back in time. It was pretty fun and HILARIOUS! You'll definitely have to try it out.

ENJOY!

1952

1960

1966

1968

1972

1974

1978

1984

1990

1994

1996

2000

The Big 3-0

I'll be turning 30 in 5 months and 24 days and I'm about to go crazy. I mean, I have seriously got the count down going now that I'm less than 6 months away. And, let me tell you it's about to kill me. I've created my own little before I turn 30 list. I'll give you a few examples of my list:

1-Get in Shape (I'm doing good with this one. As of today I've lost 29.2lbs) YAY ME!
2-Play a sport (working on that one too, I'm playing soccer, which I LOVE)
3-Take a dance class
4-Speak at a women's retreat (doing this in November)
5-Be a better wife and mother

And, the list goes on. Trust me.

For some reason, this is really a big deal to me and to be real honest I just do not want to be known as THIRTY! It seems so final, meaning that I will at that point be officially considered, "OLDER", maybe everyone else won't think that but I know there will be some. When you think of someone in their thirties you think of someone that has it together, is settled, mature, successful, etc. etc. etc. I just don't see myself there yet. And, yes, even though it's silly and crazy and just probably plain stupid I hate knowing I won't be the cute twenty something year old anymore. (I know you probaly can't stop laughing now, but it's true)

My twenties have been a mixture of the good, the bad and the down right UGLY! I have had some of the highest highs I've ever experienced in my life; like becoming a wife and a mom, these two things are the greatest things in the world and I would not trade them for ANYTHING. I love my husband and my son so much and can't ever imagine being without them. But, then on the other hand I've experienced some of the lowest of lows and have been so hurt and confused and wish to never go back there again, like my parents divorce, dealing with the death of our baby girl Renee Grace, moving away from family to to go Seminary. It's been a rough ride, BUT (don't you just love the word BUT) BUT, through it all by God's amazing grace I can say I made it and for that I am very thankful. The one thing I don't think I'll ever understand is how people go through the most difficult situations without Jesus. Without Him there is no hope and assurance that things will get better.

I am honored to serve a God that rejoices over my highs and carries me through my lows. To Him be the glory! I MADE IT and I'm still alive and kicking by His grace.

Thank you, Jesus!

Funny, yet SWEET Joshua

My sweet little Joshua is growing up so fast and recently has just been saying things that make me and Rodney die laughing! We were driving to church yesterday and I saw a dance studio and was telling Rodney how I'd like to maybe join a dance class and Joshua of course heard our conversation and just said, "Mommy, you would fall on your head." WHAT IN THE WORLD!!! I was like well, thanks a lot Joshua! I'm glad you've got so much confidence in me. IT WAS SO FUNNY though, and the three of us laughed about that all the way to church.

Then, after my fall down the stairs a couple of weeks ago which Joshua saw happen he decided that when I walking down some stairs here at the school the other day that he would run up to me, grab my hand and say as loud as he could "Mommy, don't fall now. You'll get hurt again."

In Sunday School yesterday, Joshua learned about Jonah and the Whale. But, from the time he heard the story to the time we got in the car he had changed some things up a bit. We asked him what he learned about in Sunday School and here is what he said, "Jesus got in the water and couldn't walk, and then a big shamu ate him. He got hurt and shamu spit him out." (and, of course he had to show us how shamu spit Jesus out - that was the most fun part for him)We finally convinced him that it wasn't Jesus that got swallowed by the big whale, but that is was Jonah. It took a lot of convincing though. :) We've got ourselves a very head strong little boy! :)

Needless to say, our little Joshua has picked up on the sarcasm and humorous side of our family! :) I'm sure I'll have lots more to share in the near future!

But, such a sweet thing that Rodney has been teaching Joshua to do has just melted my heart in a million pieces. Rodney has been teaching Joshua to open doors for me. So, all day yesterday any time we were going to get in the car Joshua would run up to the car and open my door, I would get in, and he would then tell me to put my seatbelt on and then he would close my door for me. When we would stop to get out somewhere he would tell me to stay in my seat and he would come around and open my door for me. SOOOOO SWEET! He's growing up into a sweet little man! Of course there was that one time yesterday that Joshua got a little over excited and after he had opened the door for me, he gave me a split second and decided it was time to close the door. I barely made it in the car without getting my leg crushed in the door. Got to watch that little man!! :)

Fun Saturday Morning

Joshua had fun playing outside with his friend Pepper this morning. Now, we have just finished lunch and Joshua is getting ready for a nap, Rodney is getting ready to do homework and I'm heading out to the gym.

Happy Saturday Everybody!

B-TEAM ROCKS

We got the lovely privilege of wearing the ORANGE vest last night in the game, so anyone with an orange vest you see is on the awesome B TEAM!