Peace...Wonderful Peace

I don't know why I am so stubborn at following the Lord's leading in my life.

Why is it that when He gently tells me to read His Word or go to Him in prayer I choose to do something else? I can only conclude that it's the sinner in me.

I was gently reminded last night during our ladies Bible study of the peace...wonderful peace that awaits me if I only follow Him.

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed last night over HR1913 (the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act) that passed our US Congress yesterday and is now headed to the US Senate for a vote. This is a very disturbing piece of legislation that will take away our freedom of speech if the bill is voted in and signed into law.

I felt the gentle tugging at my heart from the Lord to open up my Bible and read it. I didn't know where to begin so I read where I've been in my devotions - Isaiah. I started at chapter 58. Within 2 verses of reading, that peace...wonderful peace came over me and I knew God wanted me to know He still knows everything and is still in control. I went to Him in prayer when I was done reading and that wonderful peace was very present there as well. I rose from my knees with joy in my heart!

God wants the best for us. We must follow Him and we will experience that peace...wonderful peace that only He can and will give to us.

Mom, This Isn't Going So Well

We had a box of mac 'n cheese in the cupboard.

Phyllip wanted it for lunch. He asked if he could make it.

The conversation went like this:

Phyllip: Can I make it, Mom?

Me: Can you follow the directions on the box?

Phyllip: Huh? Yeah.

Me: Ok.

He gets out the pan and fills it with water, puts it on the stove and turns the burner on. Everything is going fine.

Phyllip: Mom, how do I know when the noodles are cooked?

Me: Take one of the noodles out of the pan and eat it. You'll know if it's completely cooked.

The noodles are fully cooked and he drains them and puts them back in the pan.

Several minutes later...

Phyllip: Um, Mom?

Me: What?

Phyllip: This isn't going so well.

Me: Why?

Phyllip: Can you come here? It doesn't look right.

Me: Did you read the directions on the box? Did you put milk and butter in the pan?

Phyllip: Huh?

Me: Did you put milk and butter in the pan? Read the directions, son. It will tell you how much.

He's still confused by this.

Lyndsey walks into the kitchen and reads the box. Sure enough, he didn't read the directions. She came to his rescue and helped him add the missing ingredients. The mac 'n cheese was saved.

He Does It Again!

Our boys have bunk beds. They've been asking us for many months if we could get them separate beds.

We were supposed to get them with our tax return, but before we knew it, the return was gone to things like paying for Lyndsey's college computer, clothes for the kids, blinds for one of the bedrooms, etc.

I had to tell the boys that we wouldn't be able to buy them beds just now but to keep praying and asking God for them.

About a month ago one of the ladies in our church asked me if we had ever gotten new beds. I told her no. She looked at her husband and said, "Did you hear that? They still need beds for their boys." I was puzzled at that and pondered what she meant by it and then let it go.

Last week, this same lady called me and told me she had 2 twin beds with nice mattresses that she didn't need and we could have them for FREE. All we needed to do was to pay the delivery man for his time and gas.

The beds were delivered last night. What a difference a couple of single beds makes to our boys. They were thrilled to say the least!

I checked on them last night before I went to bed and they were sleeping so peacefully. It put a smile on my face.

The Lord never ceases to amaze me at His provision!

Peaceful

Remember this post? Here's somewhat of a followup to it.

Yesterday, Tyler came running into the house and exclaimed that a dove had made a nest in one of our palm trees and to come look at it.

It was a great sight to see!

Although I knew mama dove was nervous with me getting so close, she didn't move.

The Lord sees fit to put a smile on my face regularly! I LOVE IT!

7 Weeks From Tonight...

something very special is happening!

Stay tuned!

Christ the Lord is Risen Today....

Alleluiah!

Praise God I know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour and I know for sure that I will be in Heaven with Him forever!

Today we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't know Him as your personal Saviour, I encourage you to take the time to read the right sidebar and you can know for sure today, right here, right now!

8 Weeks and Counting!

Something very special is happening 8 weeks from tonight.

Anybody else want to guess?

A Look of Shock All Over My Face

Our pastor brought a WCBC student with him to church last night.

I heard that he was from New Mexico.

I started a conversation with him after the service and here's how it went.

Me: So, you're from New Mexico?

Tim: Yes.

Me: I lived in Alamagordo/Holloman AFB a long time ago, like 30 years.

Tim: Really. I know very well where that is. Is that where the White Sands Missile Range is?

Me: No, but it's close.

Tim: So, you say you went to high school there?

Me: Nooooooooooooo, I was only this high (giving the height of about a 7 year-old) when I was there!

Tim: (realizing his very big mistake) I am so sorry!

Me: (laughing, trying to disguise my absolute shock over him just making me to be over 50 years old) It's ok (maybe) :)


Oh well, I hope I don't actually look that old because I'm not even 40 yet!

Something Different

Yesterday was our church's 11th anniversary.

This year we decided instead of concentrating on us as a church, we would reach out to our local fire department, which just so happens to be right next door to us.

We bought each fireman a copy of the movie "Fireproof," a gift card to a local restaurant, a personal invitation to our church and then we put together a HUGE fruit basket for them. The basket was so heavy it took 2 men to carry it. By the way, if you haven't seen "Fireproof" you need to see it. A fabulous movie!

We went there right after the morning services yesterday and they were kind enough to pull one of their brand new firetrucks out of the bay so we could get a picture with them.

Our pastor and his family with one of the crews

It did my heart good to see their gratefulness for taking the time to thank them for their service to our community. My husband talked with one of the captains and he said they so appreciated us thinking of them. It really meant a lot to them to get a simple "thank you" from someone.

There are 3 fire stations in our city. We took care of only 1 yesterday. Our pastor wants to do something for the other 2 soon.

Vacation Highlights

We made it to the Aquarium of the Pacific. In case you are wondering what this is about, click here.

This crab's legs were gigantic!

That is a really neat place to visit! We spent several hours there. They have great exhibits to see. The shark lagoon is neat to look at. There is actually a sword shark! Its teeth are on the outside of the sword and its mouth is underneath the base of the sword. We were there at feeding time and it was interesting to watch how it eats.

The jellyfish were great to watch as well. It was like looking at living art. They look so graceful as they move around in the water.

Aren't these birds gorgeous?!

Everyone but me touched the sharks (there are sharks that are only about 3 feet in length as an adult kind of like nurse sharks that you can pet), starfish, manna rays, anemones, etc. I was behind the camera and I just don't like to touch those kinds of things.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely!

We spent the weekend in Long Beach with some friends of ours and went to church there.

Monday morning we packed up the van, had some breakfast and headed down to San Pedro to the tide pools. We drove alongside the shipyards. That was interesting. We also saw a cruise ship that was in port. Those things are enormous!

Little crabs feeding on something.

Then it was on to the coast along the cliffs. We drove down a big cliff to park and walk to where the tide pools were. It was a beautiful day but it was very cold. A neat place to visit, though. I think I will like it better if we go back during the summer when it's much warmer outside. But we did enjoy ourselves anyway.

Tuesday we went to a place called Painted Hills. It's a little east of Indio, not too far away from home. We had never been there. We considered camping there until we found out there's nothing there (water, bathrooms, etc).

Painted Hills is one of the most beautiful places to see. The hills are just exactly what the name says. "Painted" by God.

gorgeous!

We hiked in there for about 2 hours. We had a great time. But, boy, were we exhausted by the time we were done! I was stiff a couple hours after we were done and I was incredibly sore for 3 days after! We want to go back again.

Thursday of that week was Walter's birthday. The kids and I took him to lunch. Tyler wanted to go to PetsMart and look at the animals.

Um...note to self: Don't go into a store and window shop when there is something in there you want. You just might come home with it spontaneously one day!

My Mr. Wonderful has always loved birds. He had one as a boy and has wanted one for a long time. I was going to get him one for our anniversary last year but we didn't have the money.

There were doves at PetsMart. I had never seen doves for sale. I took one look at them and told my husband I wanted one. Well......he decided we needed 2. So we are now the proud owners of 2 Diamond Doves...um.....Fred and Ethel to be exact.

Introducing Fred(left) and Ethel(right)!

Fred and Ethel

It looks like we may be having baby doves here soon, too. The nest is being readied and well, just know that we know what we are talking about as far as babies.

On to Friday of vacation week. We were absolute bumps on logs. It was the only day we didn't go anywhere. We were just plain worn out from all the excitement. We didn't go camping because the night temps were in the low 40s. Brrrrrrrr! So we are planning on camping in May.

***Big Sigh*** but with a smile

My husband and I were feeling a bit uneasy a couple months ago with the choice of colleges we had agreed to let Lyndsey go to. After getting quite a bit of counsel, we decided it wasn't in her best interest to go to that particular college. Walter told her he would like her to go to West Coast Baptist College.

She was devastated....absolutely devastated. She had been looking forward to spending her college years with her best friend, Esther. Now that wouldn't be happening. Oh how she cried. It broke my heart...the whole thing was so sad.

But she was not mad at us. We showed her the reasons and let her read the pamphlets we had read and she came to same conclusion we did. She needed to go to another college.

Fast forward to last Sunday.

Lyndsey went to West Coast Baptist College and stayed there for almost a week. She got to attend different college classes and stay in the dorms and see what college life is like. She had a great time and being the social butterfly she is, met a ton of people and made new friends.

Me, on the other hand.........had a really hard time with her being gone. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the time with my boys, but my girl being gone was so hard. I got a small glimpse of what it will be like when she leaves for college in August. It was so different this time. It wasn't like she was just going to summer camp for a week and coming home. She was getting a taste of what life will be like for her in just over 4 months.

She was supposed to come home yesterday. We found out a couple hours before she was to be home that she wouldn't be coming home until today. My heart melted. I had to wait another 24 hours to see my little girl/very beautiful young woman.

That started a domino effect on the day. The computer was on the fritz and wouldn't boot up. I tried to use the printer to copy a test for Phyllip and discovered it was out of ink (which we had no replacements, either). How much worse could it get? I didn't even want to find out. I was having such a bad day and so was my attitude.

When I decided to change my attitude shortly after, guess what? Things changed for the day. The computer decided to start working and the printer wasn't actually out of ink after all. How does that happen? I believe Satan tries really hard to discourage us and when there is a domino effect that happens quickly, he thinks he can get us down and be of no good use for the Lord Jesus Christ. When I decided I wasn't going to be critical about every little thing that was happening (after all, what could I do to change any of the circumstances?) the day just got brighter. That doesn't mean that I didn't still miss my daughter terribly. But I chose not to live in anger and misery.

I was so happy to see my Lyndsey this morning! Unfortunately, she came home very sick. And she spent the better part of today sleeping. She's got a fever, earache, sore throat, head congestion, etc. It's a combination of not getting enough sleep and the weather.

She is also happy to be home. She said, "Mom, I didn't realize just how close I had gotten to you and Dad until I left on Sunday. I don't know how I'm going to make it at college." (insert gigantic smile on this momma's face :) ) To which I replied, "I don't know how I'm going to make it when you are gone to college!" Actually that's not true. I do know how I will make it - the Lord Jesus Christ. He will give me the strength to let her go.

9 Weeks & Counting!

There is something very special happening 9 weeks from tonight!

Can anybody guess?