Thing to do #80

Well today I completed my goal of posting every day for a month. I got the idea from Traci (I think) and the website is here . The post haven't always been very interesting (heck none of them may have been interesting) but I did it. I realized that I made this a priority of sorts in my life and made sure it got done no matter what. I need to make more important things in my life take this same route. I need to make sure I always do what had to be done no matter what....there is a lesson in this venture somewhere :)

My post today is going to be just as exciting. Today is "pay bills day". I get paid on the last day of each month so I spend all day (so it seems) paying the bills. Yep fun fun....

I'll keep posting -just not as often probably so don't leave me.



This devotional was cool today. It is from Dr. Jeremiah Today's Turning Point. I'll leave you with it. Have a great day!
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The Believer's Wall

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.
Proverbs 25:28

Recommended Reading
Galatians 5:22-23


Cities in the ancient world defended themselves with walls. Think of the time and energy invested in building a massive wall around a city, one stone at a time! But think of the consequences if the wall wasn't built, or if it wasn't properly maintained. A city with a weak or fallen wall issues an engraved invitation to its enemies to march right in.

Proverbs 25:28 likens self-control to the wall around a city. Self-control is a defense against enemies like temptation and impulse. If the wall of self-control has never been established or has not been maintained, our life is a prize waiting to be claimed by our spiritual enemies. But self-control for the Christian is not a matter of grit and determination. Yes, it takes resolve and commitment, but that is another way of saying "submission to the Holy Spirit." For the Christian, self-control is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is His life within that gives the power to say "No" and "Yes" when self-control is called for.

To the degree that you are "out of control," consider whether that is the degree to which the Spirit is not filling your heart and mind with His presence.

The fruit of the Spirit is not excitement or orthodoxy; it is character.
G. B. Duncan
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Cleaning my computer

Well, I've spent all morning cleaning my computer. It has gotten very SSSSSLLLLOOOOWWWWW and I needed to make cd copies of my pictures and videos. I had 16,000 pictures (no lie) on the computer and countless Third Day videos. Well I'm about finished but my computer is still too slow. Gotta "deep" clean I guess.

I also need to get my butt up and go to the store...the dogs need food. Yeah...exciting day huh?

Waiting is the hardest part

It is now 12:18am and I'm sitting here watching The Tonight Show. I am usually in bed by 10pm so what's up???? Third Day on Jay Leno....that's what's up. I don't have any way to record it and watch it later so here I sit trying to stay awake. What a boring interview....where's Third Day. That's all I what to see.....

THIRD DAY'S REVELATION

We (Third Day fans or Gomers) have waited like FOREVER for this day to get here. I can't even remember when I held a new Third Day cd.....(well it was 2005...yeah Chronology I and II came out in 2007 but that wasn't new music). Today that will change (WHOO HOO!!!!)

Now of course the pre-order was a great idea because I have been listening to it since I pre-ordered it. I LOVED this idea. But today I will travel to Lifeway and get the 4 copies I have bought and I will get another in the mail (guess what my family is getting for Christmas?)

New cd...new tour...am I excited....Heck Freakin' Yes.....

I am going to the Music Builds tour shows in Raleigh, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. I am going to have a great time...seeing all my wonderful friends and a really amazing band.

So....for anyone that doesn't know about this now you do. Go to the nearest store and buy this cd. Enjoy!!!

My Friday

That would today...I am off for the next 3 days. Brian and I plan to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls tomorrow at the museum in Raleigh. Our new windows have arrived so Wednesday we will start moving the furniture and stuff to start the renovations. Thursday I will do a whole lot of nothing I hope.

Oh...tomorrow is a BIG day....stay tuned to find out why (LOL...like the 3 people that read this don't know what is happening tomorrow ;))

Have a wonderful day!

Well I'm not happy

I decided to change my layout (as you can see) and I saved all the html language for the old one in case this didn't work correctly. I thought that would be okay...not...I have lost all the info on my sidebar. NOT HAPPY! I can't get it back. I've tried for an hour. You would think that the info would just transfer over...yeah that would be too easy. So now I have to figure out a simple way to put all that info back in....like I have time for that!

Anyone know how to remedy this problem for future reference? Or am I stuck forever with the layout I choose?

This is how I feel....

Summer Reading Club

I think Mark has a great excuse for being late with everything! Congrats to Mark, Stephanie and Abbie. Can't wait to see your beautiful new daughter.

I didn't read as much as I probably could have the past 2 weeks or so. We had VBS at church last week and I'm one of the directors so....my life revolves around that so not much time to read. I did finish this book:


I read this book because my husband asked me to read it. He has decided it is time to change his lifestyle habits and get in better shape. I want to support him in this change so I read the book. It is a pretty good book. Mike Huckabee changed his lifestyle habits and in the process lost weight, gained confidence and is in the best shape of his life now. He has been an inspiration to many. I love to see people succeed in their endeavors and Mike has done just that and he explains how. This is not a diet book (diets don't work). This is a book that is honest about the excuses we make as to why we don't change. Mike calls them STOPS that we must do in order to change. There is great humor in the book and I love the Southern food discussions he has ....we take something nutritious and cook it right out of it by frying EVERYTHING...yep that would us. Nice quick read. Now lets go find another book...

Creation Northeast 2008 (finally!)

(Sorry this took so long...it is long also)

Sometime last fall my husband Brian says to me "would you like to go to Creation next summer?". You have to know two things:
1) my husband is NOT a crowd person
2) I LOVE a concert and have wanted to attend Creation for years but never thought anyone would go with me.
So......guess what my answer was?????? I did ask Brian if actually knew what Creation was ;).

So in February when the tickets first went on sale I bought them (they are cheaper the earlier you buy them). I was so excited and planned the trip for months (yes I'm THAT anal)!

We traveled up the day before it started so we could put our tent up and get settled in and just relax. Nice ride. About 7 hours from home. Mostly interstate travel and then nice little towns in PA. Once there we parked and set up camp. It is a very nice set up. They have been doing this for 30 years (this was the anniversary year)so they know what they are doing. Lots of RV's and tents. We walked around and found the shower area and the arena. We had a few issues but that was on our end. The fuel we bought didn't fit our stove (although the REI people showed us what to buy)and our air mattress had finally found its last leg (the air didn't stay in very well...time to get a new one). The power supply I brought wasn't strong enough to power my water boiler so making coffee was going to be a challenge. We did bring some cool stuff though....our canopy was rocking. The tent we bought was very nice
(it was a 7 person tent-air mattress fit well and then there was another "room" with the extra space). We laid down to sleep about 10:30pm.

“Home”



Wednesday June 25
Up at 7am (that's early when I don't have to up but my back was killing me since the air mattress was not staying filled). Went to the showers-$15 for hot shower for the week-oh yeah-well worth it!
Since our stove didn't work our neighbor felt sorry for us and let us use his spare stove.
We relaxed during the day. Read books, took a nap, went walking around campsite. The bands didn't start today until 5:15pm. We headed to the field and saw Flyleaf open. Lacy has an amazing voice-they were very entertaining to watch. She told us that she enjoyed playing at Creation because they didn't play in front of Christians often. I wanted to get her autograph (my stepson really likes them) but the line was so long that they cut it off when I got to the tent. Leeland was next-I always enjoy seeing them in concert. The speaker for the night was Justin Luckadoo. His question to us was "do you look like Who you follow"? He told us that in everything we see,say, think or do we should ask "if God could speak to me through this what would He say?"-then shut up and listen for God. It is time to get serious and follow Christ (does your life mirror who I say I follow?)They had a tribute to Keith Green. His wife came out to speak (they really should have just done a video montage instead). She rambled on for about 30 minutes and I still don't know what the heck she was talking about and we both wondered what she smoked before she got on stage. I am not kidding-she acted just like a person high on crack (and I've seen people high on crack several times). It was just very odd and no one seemed to be paying attention to her. At the end she tried to give an invitation which was just pitiful (she told us 5 times that they were telling her to wrap it up). After this we went shopping-bought tshirts (I needed a new Toby shirt!) The next band was Skillet. I don't listen to them usually but they put on a rocking show. And last but not least was Switchfoot. I have been a Switchfoot fan for years but until just recently (Carowinds in June) I had not seen them in concert. I sure have been missing out! They are excellent entertainers and I love them music. (Really looking forward to the Music Builds Tour with Third Day and Switchfoot!) We got back to the tent a little after midnight-air mattress held up better this night. Started to rain in the middle of the night which made for nice sleeping weather.

*NOTE* I have very few pictures. The only decent ones were taken during the day light. My night pics didn’t turn out. Too far away for the flash to matter so I don’t have many to share.

Relaxing


Hey!


Where we sat


Flyleaf


Flyleaf


Leeland


Why you don’t take pics of the video screen. I love to see people do it.


What I saw during Switchfoot.



Thursday June 26
Rained most of the morning so we just slept in.
I went to the showers about 11:30-mistake-stood in line for an hour ...that won't happen again.
Chilled at the tent-read, eat, sleep, read.....
The rain stopped about 11am and the rest of the day was beautiful but very hot. We decided to go to the arena later in the day so we missed Family Force 5 and most of Aiesha Woods (should have been later because she talked more than she sang...she kept trying to get people to respond to her). The Parachute Band sang 2 worship songs and then Ron Luce spoke. I found him dull and he lost my interest very early. Afterwards we went walking around and I bought another t-shirt. Then David Crowder band came on ...they started playing as we were walking back to our spot. They played "Undignified" first...which is my VERY favorite so I was dancing all the way back to our tarp. I listened to about 5 songs and then went to stand in the autograph line. I could still hear the music but couldn't see the stand very well. I wanted to get my picture of me and David Crowder signed. As we were in line a storm was brewing and we were told that it was about an hour away. Crowder finished playing and then the wind started getting worse. They arrived at the tent and we started going through. There were about 20 people ahead of me in line. I saw Toni (David's wife) and spoke to her for a few minutes. She is such a nice person. Then I gave David my picture which he thought was very cool. I had all the guys sign it and "draw" themselves in the picture. As soon as I got back to Brian I told him we needed to pack up and leave (Newsboys were on stage by then) because a bad storm was coming. We started to leave and they stopped the show. Rain and lightning followed. We stood near the vendors for a while until most of the crowd had left then went to our tent. As we got there we heard the Newsboys start to play again. I'm sure the people that stayed saw a great show.

Me!


Crowder (the only pic I got of him)



Friday June 27
Slept in...was told is was going to be very hot. Pretty much just sat around the tent and read books. Love our shade tree!!! Rain came again about noon. Alot of it. We spent about 2 hours in the tent. Went to the arena later so we missed some of the opening acts. I did see Kutless. I like them more each time I see them. All week long they kept telling us that Friday night we would have a special guest to help celebrate the 30th anniversary. Brian and I tried to figure out who it would be. I figured it would be an older artist that had been part of Creation for years. He picked on me and said it would Michael W. Smith. For those that do not know...I do not like MWS at all. I just can't stand to hear him sing. Some of his songs are really good but please let someone else sings them. (The opinions in this blog are my own and you have to right to have bad taste and disagree with me ;)) So....Brian told me that he would laugh his head off if it turned out to be MWS. Well after Kutless they started setting up the stage for the next act. There was no piano in sight so that was a good sign. Pastor Harry began introducing the artist (20 years ago this artist played at Creation......blah blah blah). Please welcome Amy Grant. Wow....that is just as bad. I sat down....Brian laughed. Now Amy has been around for many years and there is bound to be a song that she can sing (El Shaddai I can handle) that people would know right? She picked some off the wall songs that NO ONE knew (even the people behind me who said they were BIG Amy Grant fans didn't know the song *rolls eyes*)....why??? Anyway...once that was over and I lived through it :) Chris Tomlin came on the stage. Chris just amazes me each time I see him. He is so very humble and I love his music. I enjoyed every minute of it. "Amazing Grace" put me on my face literally. God is just so good. Then the candlelight service took place...what an amazing sight. They said there were about 70,000 people on the hill and each person was given a candle. When all the lights were turned out and everywhere you looked you saw candlelight it just warmed your heart. Pastor Harry told us that we are to be the lights in the world. If only we (me included!) would then our world would be some much different! Now I do have to add this …(you have to take this lightly because I truly do love singing worship music to God but some songs I like to sing less than others)…During the Candlelight service Amy Grant returned to sing a few more songs. She started singing (remember she is not my favorite) and guess what…it was a MWS song “Everywhere I go I see you”….not my favorite either THEN…she started singing the only song I don’t care to hear Mac Powell ever sing again “God of Wonders”. Brian just laughed at me. For those that know me this is rather funny…those that are in the dark…well can’t help you there ;).

Saturday June 28
Up at 7am (I told myself 5:30am to put my tarp up front...yeah right). I wanted to sit closer for the show today because it's Toby!!! I didn't really want to be in the mosh pit section so I went to get as close as I could in the chair section. Tarps were everywhere when I got to the arena but God is very good and right up front was a spot just big enough for my two-person tarp! Put my tarp down, went to get some coffee, took a shower and back to the tent within an hour. I managed to lock the keys in the car ....Brian went to the admin office and about an hour later some really nice people showed up and unlocked my car. We relaxed again today. That has been the best part of the trip. We could have done more but we were happy to just relax and spent time with each other. We straightened up our stuff so we would be ready to pack it up in the morning. Headed to the arena. Barlow Girl was first. I'm not really a big fan but those girls are quite talented. While watching them I noticed Gabe Real (from Diverse City) standing in the crowd. I walked over and spoke to him. He is just too nice. Got a picture and autograph.
Reggie Dabbs was the speaker. He was hilarious. He told nursery rhymes and then correlated them with Scripture.
Mary had a little LAMB
His fleece was white as snow....
(What name is given to Jesus? Lamb of God. Who is His mom? Mary)

Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of WATER
(Jesus is the living water that you never have to go fetch again)

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
all the King's horses and
all the King's men couldn't put
Humpty Dumpty back together again.
(Reggie said since all the King's horse and men were around then the King was near by also. We are to call on the KING OF KINGS when we need help not the horses or men).

Jeremy Camp was next. I haven't seen Jeremy in years. What a shame. He always rocks it. Enjoyed him alot.

Next up...TOBY MAC!!! I am so glad that Toby won the GMA Artist of the Year this year. He and Diverse City blow me away every time I see them. I was having a blast (I did miss my Toby buddies though because Brian doesn't know all the moves). Glad I watched the DVD... ;)Fun fun fun. The rain held out until "Jesus Freaks" and then it was just a drizzle. What a great way to end a great week.

Our “microwave” (we just put the soup on the car and about an hour later it was hot enough to eat).


Inchworm


Me and Gabe



Sunday June 29
Up at 6:30am to pack it up and head home. Nice ride home. Took a nap and then went to work (yeah I know....I should have taken another day of vacation).

This trip was very nice. Hope to do it again! Maybe Third Day will show up next time!

Prayer for Pastor Greg Laurie

As you go about your day today please pray for Pastor Greg Laurie and his family. His son Christopher was killed in a car accident yesterday. Please go here to read more. Pastor Laurie heads the Harvest crusades that take place all over the country. I know he and his family need lots of prayer right now.

Long night

Last night we had a storm come through about the time we went to bed. I don't remember hearing much rain but the lightning and thunder was bright, loud and often. This made for a long night for me. Rusty (my Yorkie) is VERY VERY afraid of storms. In fact, he is afraid of the rain. He shakes uncontrollably and cannot be consoled. He pants and can't figure out whether he wants to be held or just left alone. This is what I dealt with last night. He snuggles up to me (panting and shaking) and then jumps off the bed. This continues for at least an hour. I finally hold him under the covers (this seems to help sometimes) and finally we fell asleep. I woke up to go to the bathroom about 2am and Rusty was not on the bed (he sleeps on the bed every night). I went looking for him and found him under the bed. I think I am going to have to talk to the vet about getting him some medication. I hate to dope up my dog but he really does freak out and I don't think it is good for him. And of course this time of year in NC with 100 degree days and cooler nights the liklihood of thunderstorms is well...100 percent usually.

The cleaning up is coming along slowly. I did clean out the Sunroom. I need help cleaning out Scott's room because there is furniture we are getting rid of (hallelujah!). The Scrapbook room (well that is what I'm going to start calling it!) is sort of cleaned. Guess when the windows show up I'll actually get myself in gear to do it!

Brian is doing great on his way to better health. Wendy is lazy. I don't eat alot to start with so my issue is I need to exercise. Yeah that is just not happening at the moment. Lazy lazy lazy....that would be me.

Oh....to update you on my sister-in-law. She finished the swim and the bike part of the Ironman (swim 2.4 miles and bike 112 miles!)then she told Brian that about mile 13 in the run (which is a marathon of 26.2 miles) her knee blew out. She tried to keep walking to finish but was told that she could do permanent damage if she continued. Therefore she did not finish but signed up for next year! I think she is amazing....period! Actually she is WICKEDLY AWESOME (that is just for you Angie! Love you girl!)

Well time to get off my duff and do something.

May today be a great one for you!

Changing our lives

Everyone needs to change something in their lives to improve it. Whatever that might be...

Brian's doctor told him that he was a walking heart attack if he didn't change his lifestyle. So....we are now on the path to better health and nutrition. We are NOT on a diet because diets don't work. We are learning to change what we eat and how active we are each day. Brian is using a website called EveryDay Health (go here) to track his progress. He is doing great. He exercises daily and has been eating much better. I have never had a weight issue but I am going to support him in this and cut out things I don't need also (although I don't think I can totally give up my chocolate!)

So...what do you need to change in your life?

The renovations begin....

Today I start cleaning out my house to get it ready to be renovated. I am VERY excited about it all. I will be cleaning out the Sunroom and hopefully get started on packing my scrapbook supplies up (I will take a picture and show you just how MUCH I have!) I know this isn't very exciting to read about but it is for me. I need to go take pictures for some spectacular "before" and "after" shots.

So that is my day planned out....hope you have a great one wherever you are....

I'll leave you with a sweet picture of my rats...I mean dogs...

My show is over

Brian and I love to watch cartoons. We deal with enough reality at work that we usually veg out to animation at home. Our favorite show has become "Avatar-the last airbender". We've watched it since it started in 2005. Last night we watched the very last Avatar. I'm sad....this has been a very well written series and I feel like I've lost my friends....gonna have to buy the DVD's to watch them again.

Favorite quotes

Going back to the "my favorites" theme here.

Let me know some of your favorite quotes (or poems I guess some are quite long) too!

"The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest too. But if you are filled with agony for them, if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy too."
CH Spurgeon

"What a God!
Ponder the achievement of God.
He doesn't condone our sin,
nor does He compromise His standard.
He doesn't ignore our rebellion,
nor does He relax His demands.
Rather than dismiss our sin,
He assumes our sin and
incredibly sentences Himself.
God's holiness is honored
our sin is punished....
and we are redeemed.
God does what we cannot do
so we can be what we dare not dream:
PERFECT BEFORE GOD!"
(have no idea where I got this but I wrote in my Bible years ago)

"Living by grace inspires a growing consciousness that I am what I am in the sight of Jesus and nothing more. It is His approval that counts."
Brennan Manning

"Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for satan."
John Bunyan

"The main concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray."
Samuel Chadwick

"I want to walk in strong confidence knowing I am not in control."
Kevin LJ (on the Third Day message boards)

"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."
Anne Lamott

"A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice. "
Bill Cosby

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
Albert Einstein

"Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it"
Pope John Paul II

(sorry for all the "stupid" quotes....I think they are great)

Well that's all I can find in my dayplanner for now....might add more later....let me know yours!

Thing to do #87

Do not stress out during VBS.

After 9 years of being in charge of VBS I have finally learned how to not be stressed out all week. I have stopped trying to do everything for everybody. I sent those in need to the people who could help them. That was hard to figure out right? This year I just took pictures (over 900 of them to be exact). Ready for 2009? Um...not just yet.....but this one was a good one. More pictures forthcoming.

GO ANGIE!!!!

Tomorrow my sister-in-law Angie will be participating in the Ironman in Lake Placid New York. I am very excited for her. She has been training for over a year for this day. I wish Brian and I could have traveled there to watch but I'll be watching online.

I will let you know how she does.

Our VBS kids ROCK!!!

Every year during VBS we collect an offering each night. Each year we pick a mission cause to give the money to and often we try to connect the theme of VBS with the mission. This year we decided to be a part of the India Project through the NC Baptist Men's mission organization. Since NC has been going through a drought this year we have all realized more so than normal how important water is to our lives. Pastor Thomas in India is in charge of getting clean water to the people of Bihar India. This website will tell you more about this village. We made this a church-wide project. We passed out water bottles and church members have been putting their spare change in the bottles for a month now. The VBS offering will be added to the amount collected.

Now to why the kids rock. It takes $700 to dig a well in the village. It takes $2800 to adopt the entire village. By adopting the village we will supply them with a well, literacy training, a bicycle for a church planter, 200 Bibles, hymnals, and a medical clinic in that village. This is our goal.

VBS kids usually collect about $250 a year. We have never broken the $300 barrier so we decided to challenge the kids. We told them if they raised at least $300 the four pastors would dance the hula wearing grass skirts and flower bras (with their shirts on ;)) on Family night (which is tonight). On Wednesday night we had collected $284.56. We were only $15.44 away from the goal. Well.....last night brought tears to my eyes. The kids just last night gave $623.55!!!!! For a grand total of $908.11. Okay I'm crying again now typing this .....God is so good. We just figured we would add about $300 to the offering this Sunday and help reach the $2800 goal. Our VBS kids bought the entire well all by themselves!!!

Sometimes I wonder why I do this every year because it is a stressful and long week. I spend more hours at church than home, my house is a wreck, I usually end up ill about something trivial and every year God shows up and smacks me and says "Let me use you and I'll show you great things that you can't do on your own"....

Our slideshow tonight (which I HAVE to get working on NOW) will feature John Waller's song "Something big"....here are the lyrics:

I wanna see something I've not seen
Something so big
I wanna be a part of something great
Greater than me

It's time to dream big dreams
To see Your vision
Become reality
‘Cause it’s for You, by You, those who
Love You wanna do

Something so big
It’s destined to fail without You, Lord
It’s gonna fail without You, Lord
Something so great
It takes a miracle to do
We, Your children
Wanna do something big for You

We, yes, we are gonna sing a brand new song
Something so strong
We will be the sound that wakes the dawn
Something so loud

It’s time for breaking through
‘Cause there are no limits
For he who holds the truth
When it’s for You, and by You, and those who
Love You wanna do

Something bigger, something greater
For the glory of Your splendor
Something bigger, something greater
Tell the story of Your wondrous love
Your wondrous love
Those who love You wanna do

As long as we live, let us do something so big for You

© 2005 New Spring (ASCAP) / John Waller Publishing (ASCAP). All rights on behalf of John Waller Publishing (ASCAP) administered by New
Spring (ASCAP).

I pray you do something big for God today!

VBS pics

Not much time to post today....got 400 things to do but I promised some pictures so here ya go...

Loving it!

I sent Scott a package for his birthday. It had silly stuff in it...SpongeBob party hats and noise makers, bubbles, candy, Twinkies ("birthday cake" with candles)and other stuff. Looks like Scott was having a good time.

July 16

Twenty-three years ago an amazing thing happened. I wasn't actually around to see it take place but I'm glad it did...you see 2 people had a baby. Now that baby grew up and is having a birthday today. That baby is now part of my life and I am blessed because of it. His name is Scott. He is my stepson. He is an amazing person in my eyes. Right now he is serving our country in Iraq. I sure hope he has a great day.

Love you! Miss you!

Surviving VBS

I have been one of the directors of VBS for 9 years now. I have a great time doing but I have also been stressed to the limit some years. I do believe last night was the smoothest first night of VBS I've ever had...I'm learning! What I learned is to have all my stuff done before the first night (I do all the administrative/paperwork stuff [except registration]). I had all that finished. I have also learned to tell people to go find whoever is in charge of the particular area they have questioned about...I refuse to run around all night finding your answers...go to the source yourself. So, I enjoyed myself, walked around snapping hundreds of pictures and I'm not a tired as I usually am afterwards. I also handled a potential meltdown (on my part) situation with someone that was grating on my LAST (very last) nerve without actually melting down. You need to realize that is saying alot. I am a perfectionist and when you get in my way and question what I'm doing with your smart comments I'm likely to snap your head off very quickly. That is what was happening last night but I calmly found somewhere else for this person to help and that was that. I would show you pictures but our Children's Minister borrowed my SD cards to prints some of the pictures. I promise I will share.


My other "exciting" news is we are getting a new well house built today. Our old well finally rotted from the bottom up. Lots of new things in my house (windows, floors, paint the walls, curtains, shades, furniture)....loving it!

Hope your day is a great one!!!

VBS decoration explosion

These are some of the classrooms. We have some very crafty people. I loved seeing how they made their palm trees. Some were made with foam noodles, patio umbrellas and an upside down table (the legs are the trees). They have a great time doing this and the kids love it!







This is the Sanctuary. We try to transform it totally. It takes ALOT of work but we have a great time doing it. We removed all the chairs this year and the kids will sit on the floor. We even have an active volcano (can you see the smoke). This is going to be a great VBS.

VBS madness begins

Our VBS starts tonight. I am one of the directors so I am already worn slam out. We really get started on VBS in January (yep you read that right). We go to the VBS training in Ridgecrest and come home all fired up. We have recruitement sessions and then we have training sessions between February and May. Our VBS is usually in June but we just had too much going on then so July it is....we spend the entire week before at the church making decorations and getting the administrative stuff (that is my job) done. I got home last night at 10pm. We transform our church into the theme of the year....we have some VERY talented people. This year we are headed to Outrigger Island to learn about God's unshakeable truths. I'll update you daily about what went on each night. Just pray the children have a great time and that they learn ALOT about Jesus. I'll make another post with pictures of the decorated rooms.

Just funny....

Okay not much to write about today so I'll leave you with this picture. I laughed til I about cried.




Do you get it? Here's how this probably happened....
Store Employee: 'Hello this is "such-and-such store", how can I help you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Store Employee: 'What you want on the cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

Yeah...read it again now....as my friend likes to say "you can't fix stupid".....


Have a great day!!!!

Working on the to-do list items

There are 3 items that I've completed, about to start or about to attempt.

#34 Replace the windows in my house
We are about to embark on this daunting task. My mom (who rocks) is paying for the windows. Our house was built in the 1950's so insulation was not widely used therefore our house is very drafty. We have wanted to replace the windows since we moved in (13 years ago). Now we are going to do this- but here is the only issue.....my house will be a wreck for weeks now. I HATE for my house to be a wreck but I am going to have the greatest attitude because I'm VERY excited about my new windows. Need to go take some pictures so I can show you the before and after!

#41 Attend Creation Northeast in PA
DONE! I will one day get the chance to type out my thougts and the few pictures I took. Just can't seem find the time!

#87 Don't stress out during VBS (I'm the co-director)
Been working this week on next week's VBS. I do alot of the work this week and just tell other people what to do next week. I usually am very stressed out though by the end of the week. I am going to try to keep that from happening this year. I'll let you know how I do!

Not much else to talk about...oh I bought the new Kutless cd...LIKING IT! I heard some of their new songs at Creation so I knew I would probably enjoy it. I really like Jon Micah-he is a great frontman. Go take a listen.

Summer Reading Club weeks 4 and 5

I am knee deep in VBS planning this week (it starts Monday- I am one of the directors so I work more the week before than the week of-I delegate everything next week!) Sooooo....here are the 2 books I did manage to squeeze in to my time.

SRC blog is here



Short but excellent book. Matt Redman is an amazing songwriter (which everyone reading this probably already knows). To be able to get inside his mind and passion for worship music was very eye-opening. Matt explains how our worship should be ALL about God and not us or what we are going to get out of it. Matt tells us "to worship facedown is the ultimate outward sign of inner reverence". One day we know that EVERY knee will bow to Jesus but what a wonderful thing to bow now. Have you ever been brought to your face before Him? At Creation Northeast a few weeks ago now I was listening to Chris Tomlin sing "Amazing Grace" and I was so overcome with the magnitude of what Jesus had freed me from that I could no longer stand up. I was facedown in the dirt on that field and no one else was around but me and Jesus.

Matt takes us through different aspects of worship. What is it, what it is not, how it may look and how God is to be approached. One of my favorite quotes is "Yet let's not be fooled into thinking that this story is all about us. It never has been, and it never will be." Not many people today buy into that notion at all. I was also struck by the chapter pertaining to silence. We are such busy people and silence just does not seem to exist in our world. We miss God because of this....busyness (is that how you spell that?) and noise work to satan's advantage! There is a quote by Bill Hybels in the book "Is the ambient noise level of my life low enough for me to hear the whispers of the Lord?" Wow....ask yourself that one!

The chapter called AWESTRUCK hit me right between the eyes. I like the word "awesome" and I used it alot. That is going to change. Job 25:2 tells us that "dominion and awe belong to God". Awe is to be God's alone. Not a person, not a song, not a trip, not a movie....only God. I want to reserve my awe for the only one worthy of it!

I enjoyed this book and I actually thought about the Christian artists I enjoy listening to and wondered if they approached their music in the same way Matt tries to do.





Not exactly light reading but worth the effort. I read this for the other book club I am in! I have read alot of CS Lewis but not this one. This book is a collection of addresses that CS Lewis spoke between 1939 to 1956. It addresses many of the issues of the day (which are also the issues of our day). CS Lewis speaks in such a way to expand your mind but not too over your head. It is difficult to review this book because each address is a totally different topic. Just let me say that it was worth my time to sit down and read this (but once again it is not light reading...turn off that tv and read it!).