Parallel Parking

I kid you not.....this is exactly like me trying to parallel park our big mamajama van in a parallel parking spot. Thank goodness I did not have to do that to pass my driving test!! ;)

I Wanna Be Like Hannah

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going back to my home church and going to Sunday School there.  I haven't been able to go for a while, so it was such a fun time to be with old friends...and several new ones!!  This particular Sunday's lesson was on Hannah, her struggle with having a child, and her vow to the Lord.  This lesson is one that's near to my heart, because I have several friends who grieve just like Hannah did over not being able to bear a child (yet).  And I have friends who....Praise the Lord.....God has answered their prayers and they are now expecting a child, even after being told it was not likely or even possible.  I cannot say that I have been there.  I cannot say "I know how you feel".  Because I don't.  And I won't even pretend to because I simply cannot even fathom the pain these women, these couples, feel in their disappointment month-to-month.  But I am so thankful that God, in His divine providence and as He has done for so many situations that we face in today's world, provided someone they CAN identify with.  Sweet Hannah.  

In this lesson, though, God spoke to my heart about a different matter.  One that seems to affect my life daily.  Worry.  I think I have mentioned before that I am just one big worrywart.  And I have also mentioned pretty much every post that I am stressed about us selling our house.  We are tired and just want to feel settled.  We're not just wanting to sell our house, we have to sell our house because of the hubby's job change.  So, here I go again, worrying.  But, God showed me something in this lesson that I had never really seen before...or maybe I had and He just knew I needed a big reminder! :) 

You know Hannah was weeping and praying at the tabernacle.  So much so that Eli though she was drunk.  Haven't we all been there at some point?  When we are so burdened about something we just want to cry out to the Lord...and we do.....cry, wail, scream whatever.  I have.  Well, Hannah wept in anguish and "bitterness of soul" as she prayed to the Lord, and then she made her vow to Him, that if He would grant her a male child, she would give the child back to Him (and she did!!).  She just laid it all out, told the Lord everything she was feeling.  Samuel Chapter One ends like this (NKJV):

Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your

petition which you have asked of Him."  And she said, "Let your maidservant 

find favor in your sight."  So, the woman went her way and ate, and her face

was no longer sad.

For some reason, that had never hit home with me before.  But y'all, her face was no longer sad.  That day at the tabernacle, she poured her heart out and totally turned the situation over to God.  Even though her situation had not changed at that point, she still had turned it over completely to God and was burdened no more.  Oh, how I desire to do that.  So today, I'm going to be like Hannah.  I'm turning this whole house deal over to God.  He knows what will happen.  I'm letting it go.  And I know that old worrywart is gonna rear it's ugly head again (no pun intended...ha!) and when it does, I'm going to turn right back to 1st Samuel and remind myself of Hannah's faithfulness one more time.  

God is so good, isn't He?  I am still singing that song.........

blog update in progress

Just wanted to pop on here and say this is not the finished look! :)  I'm trying to redo my blog because I love a little change and wanted something that looked a little more fun, a little less serious.  I'm still tweaking things, so bear with me.  

Have a rootin tootin day!!

Little Old Me and Big Old Him

Well, I have been holding back on posting this one for a few weeks now because I am feeling so unworthy, but the cat's slowly climbing out of the bag, so I'm going ahead.  This is a hard post for me.  I simply don't know how to write it.  But I'm going to try......

A while back, my friend Nicki told me she needed to talk to me about something that she felt like the Lord was leading her to.   I had no idea what that would be and it was a few days before we had the opportunity to talk by ourselves.  Then she sprang it on me like a jackrabbit!!! :) 

As a lot of you know, Nicki is a great speaker and Bible study teacher.  She has a strong walk with the Lord and I really respect her so much.  She is attending Proverbs 31 Ministries She Speaks conference this year.  Welllllll, she told me that for some reason when she prayed about that, God just kept laying me on her heart, and she asked me if I had ever felt called to speak (and by 'speak', she meant Christian comedy).  I was almost so in shock that I didn't know what to say!  But, I told her I would pray about it.

Now, I LOVE to talk......around people I know, that is.  But you put me in a room full of strangers and I'm as quiet as a mouse.  'Cause I'm shy like that.  However, for whatever reason, it does seem that the Lord allows funny and random things to happen to me.  And He has given me the awesome gift of a thick Southern accent, which adds a "special" touch to almost any story. :)  Still, I didn't know if the Lord was leading me in that direction or not.  So pray I did.....and pray.....and pray.....and pray.  Nicki said she was praying for the Lord to put a turtle in the road so I would have clear direction in what to do.  And I knew that's what it would take.....because I'm a "thinker".  I rationalize everything to the point it's ridiculous (which I know isn't good).  I had kind of given myself the deadline of May 1st to make a decision, because I knew She Speaks would be full soon after that.  So, on April 30th I still had not received any direction from the Lord.  I had told John that I wasn't going to go because the Lord had not given me a "yes" on it.  I guess part of my hesistance was money-related.  Y'all know we're trying the sell our house and every single penny counts at this stage in the game.  I had made my mind up that because I had no clear 'yes' and we didn't have the extra money, then I was not going.   Because it's a pricey little conference (worth it, though).....$550 to be exact.  Well, let me tell you, I woke up on that Friday morning and had planned on paying bills that day so I checked our bank account.  It was John's payday.  When I logged in, I immediately got cold chills.  His paycheck for that period was $556 more than usual.  And because he's on salary, his check is the same each pay period, so I couldn't really explain it.  I yelled upstairs and said, "honey, do you know why your check would be more this month?"  He said he should have some travel expenses on there but not that much.  So, I think that was my turtle!!!  Still, right after that happened, I said, "Lord, could you give me another sign?"  My name might as well be Thomas.

So this ol' country bumpkin is heading to She Speaks in July and I'm just nervous, excited, and humbled all at the same time.  I love the Lord and love to tell others about Him, but y'all, I just don't know if I have the life, the knowledge, the ability to do this.  But I do have Him.  And that's all I need, isn't it?

Right now, the Lord isn't leading me to do anything except be a mama and go to this conference, and the fun little thingie I'm about to mention.  I'm just going to attempt to do what He leads me to do, one day at a time, as I've been doing.  He has led me to help with an upcoming retreat, which I am SO EXCITED about!!  Nicki and Sarah have already been hard at work planning the Live, Laugh, Love Women's Retreat at Fort Caswell and guess what....I'm the "Laugh" part of that!!  Woot woot!  I know it is going to be such an awesome time of fun and fellowship between women from all walks of life.  I can hardly wait!!!  For all eight of you that read this blog (hardy har har)....check it out and come and join us!

And I want to end this by just asking you to pray for me.  I am so burdened about this, not because I feel like I made the wrong decision, but because (as my friend Deidre says) I just want to get my miserable self out of the way and let Him shine through.  

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, 

For You are the God of my salvation; 

On You I wait all the day.

Psalm 25:5

Goodness Gracious!

This past week has been one that has been spent in constant study and prayer, pretty much. I have had to make some decisions that I wanted to be sure God was giving me the go ahead for. For some reason, I have had this song in my head all week!! No matter how small or how big my decisions have been, I have constantly been reminded of His goodness!!

So, I thought I would post it to my blog, thinking I would find a cute kiddo singing it. But I stumbled upon this and fell in love with it! I can't wait for you to listen!! It just makes me think how sweet it will be when every tribe, tongue, and nation - all who dwell on the earth - will worship Him! And if that don't make ya wanna do the Hallelujah Hoedown, I don't know what will!! :)

Randomness!

What do you get when you haven't posted in two months and have lots of things to share with the bloggy friends?  RANDOMNESS.  

Warning:  This post will be about things that are bringing me happiness in this present moment of my life, but none of it really correlates.......so, if you're looking for organization, you might want to stop here. :)

Exhibit A:

Here you see a picture of the best coffee creamer known to man.  It has brought me so much happiness in the last six months.  John and I LOVE coffee, and drink it every morning, so we've pretty much tried every creamer there is out there.  This won our hearts over a while back, and apparently it's won everyone else's over too.  It's sold out about 50% of the time when I go to the grocery store. Head straight for the Italian Sweet Creme.  Except at Christmas time, when Peppermint Mocha creamer is available. :)

Exhibit B:
Look what I got!!  I'm so excited!  I have only had three cell phones my entire life (and one of those includes the infamous 'bag phone'....remember those? :)) because I'm not a big phone kinda person.  I always get the free one and use it til it dies.  Well, mine was on it's way to the Pearly Gates.  Doing crazy things!  So, John had gotten a new BB (which he has to have for work) a couple of weeks ago, then I happened to see the BOGO promotion at Verizon, so Mulchy Mama got this sweet phone for FREE!  Once again!  And this time it's actually a nice one!  I really had my heart set on an iPhone, but the price comparison ruled that one out.  I also was afraid of getting one because I didn't want it to turn into a 'crackberry'.  And so far, I've controlled that addiction pretty well! :) 

Exhibit C: 

I don't think I  have discussed on here how much I love etsy!  Now, pretty much everyone that knows me knows that I love ebay, but lately I've been getting into more one-of-a-kind, homemade stuff.  And etsy is just the place for that.  I purchased this necklace for both grandmas and one for myself for Mother's Day (John told me to go ahead and get me one....woohoo!).  I can't wait to get it!  Once it comes, I'll be sure and take pics and post on here.

Exhibit D:

I love monogrammed stuff!  My good friend Faith is monogramming some cute K*lly's K*ds dresses I got for a steal at a consignment sale for the girls!  She does such awesome work and I can't wait to see my little stinkers all dolled up!  Pictures to come of this too!!

And, I'll end on a more serious note.  

Will you please pray with us that God will lead us to a decision on what to do about our house? Ideally, we would love for it to sell before the next school year starts.  But, if not, we are trying to decide whether to just stay until it does or rent it out and rent a house where we're moving to.  We really don't know what to do and just want what God wants.  As I said in my earlier post, we know that God's hand is on this and it will happen in His time....we just want to be obedient to what He wants.  John and I both are growing tired though.....him from the driving, me from the cleaning. :)  As Tom Petty once said (in a very nasal voice), 'the waiting is the hardest part'. :)

Dandelions, Sweet Dandelions

Well, y'all, I'm going to try to get back into this old blogging world.  I have been hijacked by the Facebook, trying-to-keep-our-house-clean-24/7-because-it's-on-the-market world.  I wish I could tell you that our house had sold, but it hasn't. :(  I'll have to admit, it is extremely frustrating to try to keep it clean all the time (with three miniature wrecking crews) but it will be worth it in the end, I know.  We know that God has had His hand on this move from the beginning, so we are trusting in His timing. 

Sometimes (well, a lot of times) it's hard to be a stay-at-home mom.  I absolutely LOVE it, but because I'm here all the time, I am so mundane to the kiddos.  They never really get excited to see me, but THEIR DADDY...oh, their daddy.  They squeal for delight when he walks in the door!  And I love that they do that.  I can imagine that would be such a thrill after a hard day!  But they are all the time making him special things to put in his office - drawings, crafts, etc.  And, yes, sometimes I feel a little left out (shall I get out my violin?).  

So yesterday little Sweet Pea comes in from the backyard carrying four dandelions.  She said, "These are for Daddy".  I said, "Well, didn't you pick any for mommy?".  Then, she said, "Well, one's for you and three are for Daddy."  So, of course in my mind I was thinking "yeah, yeah, just like usual."  THEN, to my surprise she said, "Daddy gets three because he's so much fatter than you."  Ha!  And I said, "Well, honey, in that case, you just give Daddy all the flowers you want to!".  

Disclamer:  Let it be known that this was not meant to put down on my hubby at all.  We both are, in fact, chubby. :)