Ed McMaahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays........

We have all heard in the news recently about alot of very famous people dying..... Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays.... and I think the world is still in shock. I really did like Michael Jackson too let me tell you. Knew the songs, loved the dances, everything...... but I was e-mailing someone the next day about him and I told her after the initial shock of his death, my next thought was .. " I hope he lived like he was suppose to". These people were not old either... 50.. 60... and with the exception of maybe Farrah Fawcett because of the situation, they probably thought they had all the time in the world to do the things they wanted to do.

As hard as it is to imagine, we may not all live to be 90 yrs old and see our children, and grandchildren or great grandchildren grow up. My children now think they have all the time in the world to do what they want. they can't wait until "tomorrow" to go to a game, or watch a movie. I on the other hand, can't seem to find the time to get everything done. There is always something else that can or needs to be done. I just need more time....

Matthew 24:36 - No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

And I don't mean to be morbid at all, but the truth is, our time on earth is short and we may not live another day..... and we have to live that way. It doesn't matter about how much money you have, you can't take it with you, doesn't matter your status, or how big your house was. I get alot of text messages that talk about making sure you tell the ones you love that you love them before it's too late. It funny to me that I only get them though when someone dies.. a reminder I guess. We have to do what God tells us to do, stay in His word and know that His promises are true.

I hope this didn't put a damper on your day, that's not what I meant to do. I do hope you all have a blessed day!! Until tomorrow, Lord willing....

Service

Good morning everyone... it's been a while.

I was talking with a friend this weekend. She was running errands and she saw an older woman who was obviously shopping talking with someone in a store. As the woman went outside, my friend continued to watch her and noticed that she wasn't getting in a car, but she had one of those metal carts that you pull behind you. Now, mind you, SW GA has not been the coolest lately and this woman was not young, so she asked if she was walking. The woman replied yes but she was fine, she didn't have far to go. My friend insisted that the woman get in her car so she could take her, and after a little hesitation, the woman did. The ride was only a few minutes and the woman thanked her and got out and said she would be fine from there.

When she was telling me the story, I don't even think she realized what she had done but I did. We are all so consumed with our own lives and what is going on around us that we forget those in need. My friend was not only showing kindness, but she showed that woman God and god's love. She may never see her again, but I guarantee she made an impact. Now I am not saying go out and pick up everyone walking on the streets (we do have to be safe), but I think we need to be aware and maybe even look for ways to help that might not always be so obvious. And you don;t have to have alot of money to serve, it really could be something simple like helping with yard work, helping clean a house, taking someone around who is not able to drive..... use your imagination. Step outside of our boxes, our comfort zones like Christ did.

I hope you all have a great week, Lord willing, we will talk again tomorrow!! I love ya!

Sometimes I feel like if I make mistakes, make wrong choices that God is gonna love me less. I mean I read the scriptures, but I mean the same things over and over again.. I just assume He gets really tired really fast like we all tend to do sometimes. I know he loves me, but one day I am going to make that one BIG mistake and He is going to be done with me forever.

But looking in the Bible I am reminded of many people who made mistakes and "big" ones at that and God never turned away from them. Take David. God loved David with all of his heart but he committed adultery, even had someone murdered and at times was not near to God but God never turned his back on him. And my favorite example was Saul, who later became Paul. Saul actually murdered Christians, God's children and thought he was going right, but later became one of my favorite writers in the new Testament and one that would go on to encourage and convert many to Christianity. God never turned away and gave up no matter what.

We are going to make mistakes, we are going to be stressed and discouraged in our lives. God still loves us. Praise the Lord it is not necessary to be perfect or we would all be doomed. God is with us even when we make mistakes. Its our job to learn from them and help encourage others.

I hope you all had a great weekend. It was pretty hot here, but it was good. Please continue to keep the Westwood mission team in your prayers as they are in Honduras the rest of this week. Have a great day and until tomorrow.. Lord willing....

My Expectations

" I know the Lord is speaking to me when the voice I hear is always challenging, always convicting, and never allows me to be comfortable where I am. Not having a father, what an honor it is to have One who loves me so much that His greatest desire is to see me grow." ~ Kirk Franklin

Seems that God is sending me all kinds of messages lately and last night in Bible class was no exception. We talked about expectations and what, if any we had when we were baptized and the ones we had from God. As soon as he started talking, I felt my brain start working. He asked a question.. when we were baptized, did you expect things to automatically change for you.. your life, your situations, just everything. Well I was baptized when I was 12, and no, I really didn't think my life would change all that much. I mean I was 12, my life was good. my mom and dad took care of me, I had everything I needed plus some, life was good. For me, being baptized that young was more of a duty. I knew I needed to do it, everyone else had so it was my turn. I didn't have a clue to be honest, didn't understand God's grace and point blank... didn't care.....

As we continued our discussion last night, someone said some thing about faith and our expectations ... the verse about moving mountains if you have faith the size of a mustard seed and how that was a hard verse for them because they had prayed and cried and cried and prayed and god said it so they expected some thing to happen and nothing did. That was me.... I was the same way for the whole first part of my life. I had done everything asked of me and nothing still was going right so I took it upon myself to do what I want and God let me have that... for a while. But there is no where (and if you find a verse that says something different please let me know) in the Bible that says life is going to be easy.....as a matter of fact, in the book of James He TELLS us that we WILL got through trials.. he didn't say maybe, He didn't say might, He didn't say once.. He said we WILL go through trials in our lives and that we should consider it pure joy.. meaning a blessing that we do it because we learn from it. So god let me do my thing for a long time and when He was tired of me being a pain, not caring what was going on and basically saying its My way and you can't do a thing about it .. He quickly put a stop to it.. and I mean I KNEW it!

So do I think that if I have enough faith I can move a mountain.. I most certainly do! I also think though that sometimes I doubt and when I do... that faith is diminished. As I said earlier, I expected God to do certain things for me, I wanted him to handle the things going on in my life and as far as I was concerned, He didn't so I gave up...... luckily, he didn't give up on me! When it was time.... and I mean I was baptized at 12 and my time was not until recently... when I was in my thirties that I have come to the realization that God really does what he says He is going to do and that HE is listening to me but I am not always going to have my way... A father wouldn't be a true loving father if he gave his children every single thing they wanted without having them learn as they went along... know what it's like to have to work hard and even suffer a little to get it. I see God like that... I don't think He wants us to hurt or be in pain, but I do think that we learn through the things that go on in or lives... I know I have and still am.

God speaks to me everyday.My life doesn't automatically change when I talk to God but it sure does when He talks to me! My prayer is that you make an effort to listen to god's voice when He speaks to you. I hope you all have a great day!! Lord willing, we will talk again tomorrow!!

Patiently waiting....

You know, I can tell when I have been praying and studying and when I have slacked off.... when I slack off, things start to not go in the right order and I start doing what I want to do instead of what I know I need to be doing and what God wants me to do. Sometimes I get so tired of waiting on God to talk to me. Does that sound bad? I don't mean it to be, but it's like I keep waiting and waiting on some things to happen, and for the life of me I can't figure out WHY there has been no move made. I mean other things are happening, I can see changes being made but not the one I am REALLY asking for.

Psalm 27:14 - " Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord."

When I moved back to Albany, I waited almost 3 months, living with a friend, before I found a job and could move into my own apartment. I wait in line at Wal-Mart during the Christmas season to buy things for my children that they really want (and that is NOT fun at all). I patiently waited for one of my favorite movies to come out, buying my ticket in advance on Fandango to make sure I got in before it sold out. See, SOME things I have no problem with waiting on. Seems that waiting on God to answer (for me) seems a bit harder. Sometimes I even get answers, that I THINK are from God, but in actuality, they are answers I just want so I do them, and they never work. But as it said in my book, sometimes the process of waiting fro a message from God can be just as important as the message itself.

2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord is not slow about His promise. God answers prayers, I know this, but it is all in His time, not ours necessarily. Waiting is not wasted time thought you know. We can't stop reading and talking to Him, we have to stand firm in His Word as we wait to see the promises fulfilled. As we wait on God to answer us, we are strengthened and blessed...we can find new purpose, increase our faith and maybe actually see a plan that God has laid out for us. We are not always going to get the answers we want in our time or even the answer we think, but be sure that if it comes from God, it's the one we need in our lives.

I hope you all have a great day. Until tomorrow, Lord willing....

I decided at the very last minute last week to take a few days off. I think sometimes the stresses of the world get to us a little more than we think and we need some kind of "reflection" so that's what I did. I went to the bookstore and found a new Bible Study to start. A while ago, I read a book in a Bible Study called "Can We Talk" by Priscilla Shirer and she has a few more so I decided to give one a try. This one is called " Discerning the Voice of God" and like many other books,seems this one is talking directly to me.The book is divided into 6 weeks and I won't bore you everyday for 6 weeks w/ it, but I'm sure you will probably be hearing about it alot.

So as I was reading, something really stuck out to me. She said, " think of a request you have been bringing to the Lord for a long time. Do you still expect God to respond and speak to you or are you losing hope?" Hmmmm....As I thought about how last week was for me and this statement, I knew definitely that I was the later.. I was losing hope in what I had been asking for. I think sometimes, well alot of the time, we expect and want answers NOW... and this is not something I have just asked for. In my mind it has been a long time coming, but it just hasn't happened yet. And once again I am reminded of how I am really good at giving advice but the taking it part is a little hard for me.

See, I know it's not about me and MY time.. it's about God's time and when HE is ready. Obviously He knows way more than I do, and maybe I still have a few things to work out before it happens. It does say, " ask and you shall receive" but there is no time frame in that verse. So this weekend I TRIED really hard to focus on the positive and what is here and now. Not the easiest thing in the world for me to do especially when I see people who don't necessarily deserve things get them.

"God will speak to the hearts of those who prepare themselves to hear; and conversely, those who do not so prepare themselves will hear nothing even though the Word of God is falling upon their outer ears every Sunday"~ A.W. Tozer

So we need to start preparing ourselves to really listen and watch for God's answer and KNOW that just because we get an answer, it MAY not be the one God actually sent.. trying to figure out which is which is key.

I hope you all have a great week. Say a prayer for safe travels for my daughter and her basketball team. They left this morning at 7 for a basketball camp for 3 days. Until tomorrow, Lord willing....

A Creed to Live By

I like reading motivational and inspirational things and I came across this and thought I would share it with you:


A Creed to Live By


Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others,
It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important,
Only you know what is best for you.
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart
Cling to that as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.
Don't give up when you still have something to give
Nothing is really over … until the moment you stop trying.
Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect,
It is the fragile thread that binds us to each other.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks,
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tightly,
And the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don't dismiss your Dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope.
To be without hope is to be without purpose.
Don't run through life so fast that you forget where you've been,
But also know where you're going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored every step of the way. ~ Author Unknown

Oh no, you never let go.. through the calm and through the storm.....

I got a Facebook status text this morning from a friend in Florida that said,

"Sooo thankful to wake up and see another day. Someone somewhere wasnt as lucky as me"

I was still asleep when I got the message and when I heard the phone beeping I said some not so nice things being as it was 5:00 in the morning. But then I read it and thought, God is talking to me through her. It has been a really long week for me. Most of them are like that though but the headache for 4 days has not helped my situation much. Stress and my attitude has basically taken over pretty much everything that has gone on this week and honestly, I have not much felt like writing, talking, or doing anything for that matter. But she was very right, I SHOULD be thanking God for waking up to see another day because there are so many people in worse shape than me.

I have been lucky enough to go to VBS all this week. Tonight is the last night and I can say this. When I get there I am pretty worn out and ready for bed being as I have just left work.. but to listen to those kids sing gives me chills! That's what it is really all about ya know. I think I wrote about this last year and I will have to see if Jay will upload a video for me, but there is one song that is like out VBS favorite. And when the kids sing it, they sing it LOUD and they mean it. The adults get into it too and I mean just even now writing about it makes tears come to my eyes. I mean really, imagine 100+ kids shouting at the top of their lungs (while doing dance motions too) " OH NO YOU NEVER LET GO, THROUGH THE CALM AND THROUGH THE STORM. OH NO, YOU NEVER LET GO, EVERY HIGH AND EVERY LOW. OH NO YOU NEVER LET GO, LORD YOU NEVER LET GO OF ME"... it is truly amazing!!

So as I go through today, that song as well ans my friends early morning message will play in my head and everything will be alright!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!! I love you and until next time. Lord willing.....

It's just been an eventful weekend. And as I started it, I was NOT in a good mood (yep, I have them days still now), but as I went to help decorate for VBS (which honestly, is not something I wanted to do this weekend, I wanted to sleep), spent some time w/ friends at a retirement party and then talking, I learned alot. God is still working on me.....

I remember having a conversation a while ago with someone and basically we talked about why it seemed like we were the only ones in the world ( to us anyway) who had to deal with so much all at one time. It was like as soon as we figured one thing out, another one happened and we didn't have time to re coop from the other one. It was all me, me me, me.... It made sense and nothing we said was wrong.. all of the stuff happened, but last night as I was reading James, I started to think about it alot. To the point that it actually bothered me some.

First of all, let me say that anything I write is about me, stuff that I normally have gone through or have had to deal with. Not everyone sees it the same or will deal with it the same. But when I tell you I honestly feel like God has helped me through some messed up stuff, this was one of those things. My thinking was all screwed up. I was looking at all the negative in my situations and it was getting me no where. The more I talked about it, the worse it got. It was not until I began to realize ( and I am still in that process now), that there are lessons in all of it, that I began to start to grow and change. I don't want to and have no intentions of spending the rest of my life blaming everyone else for mistakes that I have made and problems I have had.

I have said SOOO many times, that " they couldn't possibly know or understand anything i am talking about because they have not been through it".. and that is true. Bitterness and hatred are deadly weapons let me tell you and for a very very long time, that was me. No one could tell me anything and even now, I am pretty opinionated, and I still have a hard time sometimes understanding where people are coming from. Not alot of people have had to deal with some of the things I have, but that doesn't mean they can't be there for me. It doesn't mean that I can't help them, because I would imagine that God is going to give me that opportunity as well one day.

Hmmmm.... it's just been an enlightening weekend for me. Nothing really "motivational" to talk about today, just some stuff that was on my mind. Just when I think that I have seen it all, God opens my eyes to a little bit more.

I hope you all have a great Monday morning. And if you have nothing to do tonight.. we are having our 2nd day of VBS at my church. .Westwood Church.. 123 Westover Road (across from Westover High School),please come, 6-8:30!

Until tomorrow, Lord willing....

***YAWNNNNNN it's been a long night****

I spent last night at Phoebe's emergency room. My daughter had an injury at her first high school scrimmage game. They played Monroe and she got to play on the Jr. Varsity as well as the Varsity team game. She was so excited and she played well so I hear (I was at work). She scored, blocked and jabbed a few times I was told. But she also took a fall, and when she did, one of the Monroe players fell on her ankle. Pain. When I picked her up she was in pain but nothing I thought was bad, but last night, 11:00.. she screams like I have never heard her before. So off to the hospital we go and I am praying the whole time.. PLEASE DON'T LET IT BE BROKEN.

Trials and temptations. Greg (my minister) says when you pray for something, be careful, because God is gonna help you with it. Been praying this week to help me deal with the trials and temptations that come along and guess what... I have had alot of practice working on it!!! Wasn't there TOO long, but I watched my child cry everytime they touched her leg ( and I was sucking in tears the whole time!!) I mean, watching the so called "tough one" break down.. well, I did pretty well, considering. Long story short, Brianna's leg is not broken (thank God), but she does have a severe sprain and possibly some ligament damage. We got the first pair of crutches in our family last night and have to go to a specialist today or Monday.

Brianna cried. I mean this means she misses the rest of the month's basketball camp, and POSSIBLY some of next month's softball camps. I told her this would be a good lesson for her.. perseverance... although she may be sidelined that didn't mean she could still go to practice, watch everything she could, encourage the other girls trying out, and help anyway she could while they were playing. And then, soon, she would be up and around again and she would have to kick butt with her own practices if she still wanted to make that Varsity team when school started. She just gave me that " you have NO clue what you are talking about" look. But I kept on until it was time for us to go. The ride home was very quiet, all I heard was sniffles from the back seat.

By the time we got home she was starting to get tired (that would be the Tylenol w/ codeine starting to talk to her) and she hobbled to her room. Before she went to bed.. she said, " is it okay if I still go to practice and to the camp next week?" of course....... whew!!!

Maybe Brianna's trial doesn't seem big to any of you, but it really was to her. They don't all have to be something amazing to talk about ya know, I am just glad she chose to not let it stop her. That's my baby!! Say a prayer for her though, it's gonna be hard for her to sit and watch!!

Also, last night I found out that Mr. Otha Butler is missing. When I was growing up, I went to church w/ Mr. Butler. He was one of the sweetest men I have ever met. So dedicated and devoted to Christ. He is 88, and never showed up to play golf like he was suppose to. Please pray that they find him safe and sound!!!

Well, the weekend will be starting soon. I hope you all have a great and safe one!! Encourage someone this weekend! I love you all, Lord willing we will talk again on Monday!

Good morning everyone. The death of David Sledge yesterday got me really thinking about the book of James even more. If you have never lost someone close to you, I can only tell you that what Jenny and David's children are going through is almost unbearable. Days start to get long, you lose all focus and any train of thought you once had, you think you can't go on, and you may even want to die too. I have felt that a few times in my life as well so I can truly sympathize with them. And you hear all this "wise Godly advice" and I don't say that lightly by any means, but honestly, at that point, you really could care less.. just being honest.

It has been almost 11 years (in August) that my mom died and I think about her everyday. But as much as I miss her and as much and Jenny will miss David, I know now that God is still there. I really didn't think that then. I mean, after all, He took my backbone when my mom died. And in James, when he said " Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance..."well I just know that my own personal situations made me stronger and more importantly, over the last 11 years, it has grown my faith. God was with me and brought me through some really hard situations, never giving up on me even when I gave up on myself. And to be quite honest with you, with some of the things I have done, its a wonder I am not dead myself.

I ask that you continue to pray for Jenny and her family..I mean really pray because Satan is getting ready to try to attack her.. I know it, I have been there. He is going to try to get her since he knows she is at her lowest point right now. Pray that God gives her a peace and help her through this difficult situation. And I hope you all know, all of us will at some point go through this. As much as we would like to think life goes on forever, one day we will get to see God and to be honest (and I am not ready to go NOW) but the thought of living with God forever.. well it makes me happy. Death can be devastating and tragic for sure, but the hope of eternal life with God, well..... I can't wait!!

I love you all, and I hope you have a great day. Lord willing,we will talk again tomorrow!!

The devil made me do it

"The devil made me do it".... how many times have we said that. I mean it says in James "When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does He tempt anyone." Soooooo that only leaves one person who could be leading us into this right? BUT if you keep reading it says " but each one is tempted by his OWN evil desires, he is dragged away and enticed." Sounds like to me, that it is US, who lets our own lusts entice us to do things that we have no business doing. I guess it would be easy to blame the devil huh, after all it's not like he means us any good, BUT at some point you have to start taking responsibility (and consequences) for your own actions.

James goes on to say " Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." Wow... So its like this:

Desire = Sin = Death.... and all of that because we can't control ourselves. Nothing good can happen when we sin. Destruction will ALWAYS follow. It may not be right then, but it always comes back to us in some shape or form. We cannot keep these harbored in us.. we must crush them as soon as we figure it out or sin will soon follow.

And although God does not cause us to sin, HE is definitely the only one who can give power and victory over the sin. We must call on Him daily to help us!

I hope you all have a really great day!!! I am really enjoying reading James.... sometimes I think it all sounds a little too easy, like there is something else hidden.. I guess I will learn that as my Sunday school class goes on.

Love you all bunches..until tomorrow Lord willing....

I am really excited that in my Bible class on Sunday mornings we are about to begin to study the book of James. Only 5 chapters, but I love every single one of them. I have read them over and over. It talks about actions... things we have to actually DO, and not just say it. I am gonna be so excited to talk about this for the next few weeks. I hope y'all can bare with me...

The first time I read Chapter 1, the first few verses I was like "HUH".. it says

" Consider is pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

You know how you read something over and over, and don't get it for a long time? Well that was me. And maybe it was just because of all the stuff going on, that I didn't WANT to get it. There was so much going on in my life at one point. And I hope I don't start repeating myself, but I cannot tell you how those things really changed my life... first not in a good way, but I often wonder if I needed to go through the crap to get to this point. When I got divorced, I decided to move to Texas to get away from everything and everyone I knew that seemed to be getting on my nerves. But not only was I running from people here, I was running from God. Sad but true.... I was hurt, mad, irritated, among many other things and I just didn't want to be bothered. I think God let me have that year to sulk, but when HE got tired of it.. He got tired of it!!! And back home I came to face everything I thought I was running from.

See for me, running from the problems and temptations was a way to deal with it, now I know you have to really deal with things head on. People always tell me how "strong" they think I am but you know what, its not me.. trust me, it's not me. And coming home didn't' solve problems right away, it took years actually, but I am getting there.. still!

God DOES use our trials to make us stronger, to make us handle situations like we NEED too, instead of like I did by running away!!

I am pumped about these new lessons we are about to do at church.. maybe I will get some new prospectives, something I missed from it and I can't wait to share!!

It's Monday and it's gonna be a good day! I hope you all know that! Love you all and Lord willing....