What I'm Learning...

God has been teaching me so, so much lately. And my friends...it hurts!Wherever I go, by any means possible, it seems that He is showing me the same thing over and over.

This is not unusual. There have been countless times that He's done this..."beating" the message into my heart until it finally sinks in, and I stop fighting against it, and start learning from it. Most of the time...it's something that I don't want to hear. And like a child, I stick my fingers (MP3) in my ears and sing loudly, in hopes of drowning Him out...which, by the way, does not work. God is not loud. He doesn't keep shouting louder and louder...He whispers...softly and gently, and it pierces my heart to the core...and He does it because He loves me...He does it because that's who He is. Astounding, isn't it?

My problem He's revealed: Self. I heard a message recently on the 10 commandments. It broke them down into what they meant or stood for. The first commandment God gave was that we not hold anyone above Him(have no other gods.) And it struck me. I don't worship any other gods...or do I. Who is first in my life all the time? The answer I heard was not pretty...the answer was me.

The more I thought about this, the uglier it got. I began to realize that there is not one decision I make, no matter how big or small, that does not FIRST go through my automatic filter of how does this effect me, make me feel. Granted, I do things all the time that may be self-sacrificing, but I guarantee you that it first went through that ME filter and then I decided if it was worth it or not. Gross...and totally backwards.

You know what that filter should be FIRST?!? It should be "Does this glorify God?" I want that to be first. He put it in that order for a reason. He knew that in our humanness, the struggle for control over our lives would be the hardest to let go of. It is a battle that I will most likely fight on a daily basis...maybe minute by minute. It's idiotic if you think about it. Why on earth would I think I know more or have more control than God, who happens to be all-knowing, all powerful and in all places?!? Seriously, that makes me a special kind of stupid. Again.

I want to trust Him enough to make my first thoughts "Does this glorify God" and not "How does this affect me/make me feel." Obviously, I am not capable of this on my own (as we've seen.) It is the cry of my heart, today, for His help on this.

God does not exist for me. He does not need me. But I was created for Him, and without a doubt I need Him desperately. It's time I start living it...in that order.

There's more He's teaching me...but one thing at a time :)

What's He showing you? Do you hear Him? Are you listening or hiding? What's the cry of your heart?

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Name Change

Just thought you should know that these flowers have a new name. I know, I know, you think you already know the name for them...but its changed my friends.

It. has. changed.

They are no longer some sort of Lillies, they are now called "Church Flowers" Can you guess why?!? Yep. We have them around our church, so our boys have re-named them. Wanted ya'll to know so the next time you went to the greenhouse, you could use the correct terminology and not feel all "outta the loop."

Your Welcome, my friends...no need to thank me...I know you'd do the same for me ;)

Side note: The above church flowers are not the ones from our church...they are from when we went on vacation. They live at Baker's Square...where we ate breakfast before heading home. The flowers were not the only beautiful sight at Baker's Square.

Check this out:

*sigh* I did resist the urge to cry, because I would have LOVED to have taken advantage of that sweet offer and eaten French Silk Pie until I was sick...had I only seen this sign before! Divine intervention, my friends...divine intervention.

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ONE Word?!?

Mocha with Linda (I love her, by the way) tagged me for this one-word MeMe...ONE WORD!! I do not have the writing skills & vocabulary required to be witty in ONE WORD, so this will likely be boring, but hey, it's Saturday...and I say "A" for effort. :)

So here's the rules: All of the answers must be just one word.


1. Where is your cell phone? Desk


2. Your significant other? Cute


3. Your hair? Wild


4. Your mother? Thoughtful


5. Your father? Lost


6. Your favorite thing? People


7. Your dream last night? Gone



8. Your favorite drink? Pop


9. Your dream/goal? Heaven


10. The room you’re in? Office


11. Your church? Family


12. Your fear? Pain


13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Tiny-town


14. Where were you last night? Parsonage


15. What you’re not? Hopeless


16. Muffins? Doughnuts


17. One of your wish list items? Energy


18. Where you grew up? Iowa


19. The last thing you did? Coffee


20. What are you wearing? Bigger


21. Your TV? Sanity


22. Your pets? Sleeping


23. Your computer? Dell


24. Your life? Joy


25. Your mood? Good



26. Missing someone? Darcy


27. Your car? Dirty


28. Something you’re not wearing? stirrup pants


29. Favorite store? Target



30. Your summer? Unusual


31. Like(love) someone? Lots


32. Your favorite color? Red


33. Last time you laughed? Yesterday


34. Last time you cried? Yesterday


35. Who will re post this? Beth

This was SUPER hard...ONE word! If I can do this...I can do anything *wink wink*

I like to tag all of you...I'm a cheater like that.

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Last Day...

Started the trip wearing these:

Then, after four days of eating out EVERY meal, my jeans feel more like tight leggings ( I kid you not.) I'm ending the trip wearing this mu mu like dress.

Good Grief.

Here's some more pictures...

It's our 10 year anniversary today. Praise God that 10 years and 3 boys has not changed our dorkiness! Love him.

Ben and I and our adorable niece Maddy (lives in same city as conference.) She gets to come stay with us for several days in July while her parents take their church's teenagers to camp...we'll get to "play house" with a girl!

Another one, because seriously, how cute is she?!?

Me and my sister Lindsey (Maddy's mommy) she's 4 1/2 years younger than me (she's 26, I'll save ya the math :)

We so enjoyed our vacation, and are definitely ready to head home and see the boys and charge on with everyday life!

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Pretend I Have a Highlighter...

*Serious stuff first: Please pray for a little girl named Sierra, from tiny-town. She is a sweet girl that attends our Bible Club every Wednesday night. Her home had been destroyed in the flood so her family was staying with friends. There was a very bad car accident and an 11 year old (friend of family) was killed and Sierra is in very serious condition with a broken back. This is all the info I know right now. Please keep this beautiful little girl and her entire family and friends lifted up in prayer*


It is true and no big surprise that I have managed to read blogs and do posts while on vacation. I assure you that I have indeed been doing other things than sitting at the laptop (which by the way I HATE typing on! I will kiss my big ol' computer upon returning home) ...what was I saying?!? oh yeah, I really am very quick at doing posts...therefore explaining the lack of depth and proper English techniques *insert cheeky smile*


Highlights of yesterday:

• The morning speaker at the conference: WONDERFUL...spoke on Psalms 22, which is an Old Testament picture of Jesus' crucifixion (before crucifixion even existed), which I had never noticed before (now ya'll know how scholarly I am :) Of course, I cried through most of it...with no Kleenex. I'll get into all the great stuff I learned in later posts, when I have time to put more thought into it!


• Then, they had all the military chaplains come forward (bawled) and one young man in particular was going to be heading to Iraq as soon as the conference was over, so they had his wife come on stage and we all prayed for them. That's when the "snot all over" crying began...with no Kleenex...it was a lovely, lovely sight.


• forgot to mention that the man we sat next to the first night told me he had a daughter named Sarah and that I looked like I was about her age...after consulting with his wife to find out his own daughters age, he said "she's 24" and I refrained from hugging him...but he is indeed my new BFF...except I don't know his name...


• Eating out every meal is the best thing ever!!! Since leaving yesterday I have had spinach & artichoke pizza and home-made potato chips, Chicken ranch sandwich, home-made waffles, another buffalo chicken sandwich with waffle fries and onion rings, 1 large iced coffee, 1 McFlurry, and 1 Mint choc chip Frappaccino and a steak burrito...most of that I split with my hubby, but still....


• Went to a workshop on connecting our church to the community and it was so, so good! The guy doing the presentation was so genuinely passionate that it was contagious. I loved tiny-town before this conference...and now God is expanding on it in ways I could not have foreseen! The timing of this conference and vacation is so clearly precise...knocks my socks off!


• Went back to the mall (again), and sat in Barnes and Noble and skimmed through "Blogging for Dummies" and mostly learned that I am indeed a "dummy"


• We ate at Champ's for lunch, and I had another episode of Blog Mouth. Our waitress had beautiful hair like my friend here. Usually, I would just comment to Ben about how fab is was and NEVER actually say anything to her!!! But of course, part way through the meal, when she brought us more fried food, I said to her..."I just have to tell you that your hair is beautiful! My friend in high school had the SAME hair and I loved it!" And seriously, the look on her face was priceless!!! She came back to the table 5 more times just beaming, and of course, talking about how she used to hate it because it was different and now she's accepted it...(whole 'nother lesson for me there) I left there knowing I had totally made her day, and it felt so, so good! Look out strangers...here I come!


• Ben and I are having so much fun (alone) together! If I saw us on the street I'd probably think it was nauseating, HA!...so glad I don't have to see us :)


• I am missing the boys...but in the "just want to see them for a 1/2 hour, hug and kiss" and then leave again kind of way. I've called (and called) and they are having a blast with grandma and grandpa. (also called my mom and she assures me Odie is also fine, except that he is apparently fasting in protest to our absence...which, if you've seen my over-weight wiener dog, you'd agree with me that it's probably OK :)
• I am very, VERY bad at sitting still at the conference. Last night I had to sit for close to 3 hours and it was not pretty...the fidgeting...I kept looking around at all the people sitting so still and I thought to myself...really, maybe I do have a little ADD!! Ben informed me he thinks it may be "selective ADD"...I won't argue :)
• Tomorrow, some pictures, I promise.

Happy Thursday Friends!!

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Oh Yes I Did...

Last week I read this post at 2nd Cup of Coffee...you should read it (if you haven't) you'll laugh your rear-end off! Plus, if you don't read it first, this post will just not be as clever. Except, please keep in minds that Linda is an actual writer, so after you read her post, please once again lower your reading standards before returning to my blog...many thanks.


OK, so I read that post and commented how I've never worn white pants...and then it got me thinking. Why?!? What's holding me back?!? Time to shake it up a little :)



So, yesterday, for our little shopping trip, I wore these:

And, I kept them clean!! And, they might be my new favorites. Thank you Linda, for inspiring me..and when I get home from vacation I will start the "white pants diet." :) Do you all wear white pants/jeans?!? Go do it...take a walk on the wild side.

• Important, important information: White Jeans: Target...Converse brand...Streeetchy :)


• Steve & Barry's...Ben got a pair of shorts, and I left with a red hoodie, but that was it...bummer.


• Ben got lots of good deals at my FAVORITE store. I left with nothing. Why is it that everything I like is NOT on sale?!?


• Conference: We just had the opening session last night...I'll wait to fill you in until I can write a full sermon about it ;) Just kidding...ya'll know it will be in bullet points.

More tomorrow...

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So Good to Me...

Just a couple quick thoughts before we leave for this. I woke up this morning with a few (lots) of things to pack yet. In the back of my head I heard that little whisper...the nudging to sit down with my Bible...first. I opened to Matthew and read these two short verses...

Matthew 7:33&34 " But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Here's what I heard as I read it: Seek Him and who He is first, and THEN I will feel that assurance that He will take care of the rest. Take one day at a time...with Him, seeking Him. He has only given me enough of His grace and mercy to handle today. I do not yet have His strength to deal with anything beyond that...when I start to head beyond, I'm doing it on my own, AND that's why it seems so overwhelming. *sigh*

It's amazing how sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing something, until I come across a verse that speaks truth to me and shows me where I'm really at.

OK...got to finish packing...and then first stop on little trip will be here :)

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