Prayer Life

As I lay in bed last night praying, I suddenly found myself examining my prayer life. I have always been a prayer, that is not the problem. But I think it's more how I pray. I have certain things I pray for every day, probably #1 is my children and my family. And I always pray for people I know who have special needs or concerns. But as I was praying last night something just hit me and I started feeling like I was missing out on something. I think I realized I am missing out on more of a dialogue or conversation with God. I realized I'm not taking the time to be still before Him and just listen.

I know that God knows everything on our minds and hearts even before we tell Him or pray for it, but there are still certain things I feel like I need to tell Him or ask Him every day. I want to have more of an open dialogue with God when I pray, more of just a conversation with Him about my day and then take the time to listen to see if He reveals anything to me. But I struggle with not praying some of things I pray for every day. Not that I can't do both. But last night I just got this weird feeling. I was praying and there were some different than the norm things on my heart I was praying for. But I felt like I had to pray for all my every day prayer stuff first. Like if I didn't pray for the things about my kids that I always pray, something would happen. I know that probably sounds weird, but it just hit me like that and that's never happened before. That's when I started thinking maybe I'm doing too much talking and not enough listening. Because I know that God already knows the things on my heart about my kids.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling now. I know I'm probably just weird. I know God is not calling me away from praying those things that are always on my heart, but I do think He is calling me to something different. Hopefully He will help me sort all of this out.

Thirteen Things I Love About Being a Child of the King and My Relationship With Him

I am so blessed to be a child of the King and I have really been trying to focus more on my relationship with God lately. Not that it's not good already, but I am far from perfect and I am changing and growing every day. I know there is always more He wants to bless me with if I will just let Him (or let Him in). I'm trying to be more focused and not miss out on the treasures He has in store for me.

1. I love the fact that He is my heavenly father and is always with me! Especially since my earthly father has already gone to be with Him.
2. I love the relationship I have with Him that grows closer and closer with each passing day!
3. I love that He doesn't judge me no matter how much I judge myself. And that He covers over every mistake that I make with His grace and compassion!
4. I love that even when everything around me seems to be crazy and fleeting, He is the constant in my life!
5. I love the way His word is new every time I read it; that something you've read a thousand times can suddenly be revealed to you in a new way!
6. I love the way that He sends people into your life at just the time you need them to be Jesus with skin on!
7. I love the way He holds our family together in a way that we or no one else can and the closeness we share because of Him!
8. I love the way that when you are connected with friends through Christ, you have a special bond that cannot be broken. Even if you are a million miles away from each other!
9. I love the way I can talk to Him about anything and still feel safe!
10. I love that even through death, my family will never be separated because of our relationship with God!
11. I love that someday distance will not matter between family and friends who are connected through Christ. We will all be praising and worshipping Him together forever!
12. I love that He hears our prayers and answers them in ways we could not even imagine!
13. I love that I will spend eternity with the Father worshipping and glorifying Him and the joy that can only be found through relationship with Him!

I could continue to go on and on! There are so many things to say that I could never list them all! I am a truly blessed child of the King and I would not want to be anything else. I am so grateful that no matter what else happens in our lives, we will always be connected as sons and daughters of the King!

A Cup of Coffee

I received this from a dear friend and thought it was worth sharing.
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A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it’s just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and then began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups . . . enjoy your coffee!
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Why is it we always want to be and have the best of everything. Jesus tells us in scripture "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." The world tells us we are number one, put ourselves before others because we must take care of ourselves first and that what matters most is that we are "happy".

This boggles the mind... how can we be "happy" if we never give others a second thought, if we don't put others before ourselves, if things and always having the best things are the most important things in our lives. I believe that true contentment comes from putting others before yourself, stepping back and letting others be first, serving others, I could go on. There is a lot of truth to the old saying it's better to give than to receive. I am always extremely blessed when I do something for others. And for me, it is much more exciting to give others gifts than to receive them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put myself upon a pedestal. I love to get gifts! But there is just something about seeing the excitement in someone's eyes when they open a gift from you. Especially when it's your kids!

True joy comes from living a life centered on Christ and living as he lived, serving others. Whatever shape or form that service may be in. Christ gave up his life for us, it seems like the least we could do is give up a few "things".

Thursday Thirteen

Now that the weather has begun to cool off (especially in the mornings) it has made me ready for fall. So the following are things I love about the fall season.

1. The beautiful colors that come with the changing of seasons and seeing God's hand at work.
2. The cooler weather.
3. The weather is great for camping!
4. Football season (this may not last long the way the Cowboys are playing or maybe I should say the way Parcel's is coaching :)
5. Dallas Stars Hockey is just around the corner!!
6. Mavs Basketball is also just around the corner!!
7. Being able to be outdoors without sweating the moment you step outside.
8. The new television season begins... except for 24 & American Idol :( (bring on January!)
9. The State Fair is coming... which means corny dogs are coming :) yum, yum!
10. The weather is great for riding the motorcycle :)
11. School starts and it's like the beginning of a new year with new plans, just as much as it is in January.
12. Thanksgiving and Christmas are getting closer :) I love the holiday season!
13. Rockstar Supernova is Over!! I am so disappointed in their choice!! It should have been Dilana! ( I know some of you are probably laughing right now... oh well. I got addicted)

Something about Fall just reminds me of a time of renewing. I know that spring is probably more a time of renewing, but fall is the beginning of those changes. Casting off the old and preparing for new growth. I know that's what I need to do in my own life as well. Fall is a good time for me to sit back and re-evaluate where I am spiritually and begin casting off the old so I can prepare and will be ready for new growth. Sometimes casting off the old can be painful, but if I'm going to be ready for the new growth I have to let the potter mold and reshape me every year. So bring on the fall... I need some reshaping.

Mid Week Sustenance

I am so glad today is Wednesday!! I know, that sounds like kind of a crazy thing to say, but I need the mid week sustenance I receive from being with my Christian family.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about trying to balance life. Things are better now that school has actually started. I am back in the swing of the things so it doesn't feel like everything is hitting at once, but the balance part I'm still working on. I know, I know I'm not really going to find a perfect balance, but it is something I need to work more on. I know it's about setting priorities and I think I'm getting better at that. But old habits are hard to break... and they are so easy to fall back into if we're not careful.

But back to Wednesday...Jeremy has to be at church early tonight and Chris is working late. It would be so easy to just stay home tonight and not go to church. We are going to have to drive two cars so staying home would save gas, I could just relax and be by myself. (Something that moms don’t get to do to often :) But you know what, I am looking so forward to going tonight even though it will be an inconvenience with two cars and even though I will have to go by myself tonight. It gives me such a boost and such a spiritual high to just be around fellow believers and friends. I admit there are rare occasions when the temptation to stay home gets the best of me, but I later regret that. Because even when I am having the worst day and could easily stay home, if I just go ahead and go... wow!! The difference it makes in me physically and emotionally is incredible. There is something about being around friends and God's people that will charge up you and fill you full of energy!

So even though today will be busy, I am so already looking forward to my mid week sustenance and spending time with God's people. It's a very refreshing feeling! :)

My Word Cloud

I got this from Jenny Bizaillion. It's free and it really is a lot of fun. It pulls words from the words you use in your own blog. So it really says a lot about who you are. Here is the link if you want to try it http://www.snapshirts.com/custom . Have fun!!

Thursday Thirteen

These are at least 13 of the reasons I love to ride my motorcycle!! :)



1. It's very relaxing.
2. It's fun and exciting!!
3. It's personal time with my husband.
4. It's a great time to think.
5. I love feeling like I'm right in the middle of all of God's creation.
6. I love the cool breeze that blows on you, especially now that it's not 106 degrees outside!
7. I love taking winding roads and not getting car sick!!
8. It gets about 50 miles to the gallon instead of the 12 miles to the gallon our truck gets!!!!
9. It cost me $8.00 to fill up the gas tank instead of the $58 it cost in the truck.
10. I can drive the same number of miles on a 3.2 gallon tank that I can drive on a 26 gallon tank in the truck.
11. I like the special motorcycle wave that motorcycle riders give to other riders. (motorcycle riders are really quite friendly... even though some may not look like it!!)
12. It makes the dayschool kids think Ms. Liz is way cool :)
13. Did I say it was fun?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Just in case you're wondering... here is a picture of my motorcycle :)

My Son is on the Radio!!

This year Jeremy decided to take KEOM radio for a class at school. He started getting to do traffic reports or weather last week. He was a little nervous the first day, but he did great. Now he sounds like a pro! (Proud momma moment!!) He has radio first period on B day which is every other day. So if you're ever in your car or near a radio in the morning between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m., put your radio on 88.5 FM and you just might hear Jeremy!! :) Plus it's great music from the 70's... you can't beat that!!

Trying to Balance Life...Is There Such a Thing?

Dayschool starts next Tuesday...and I'm finally ready!! Yeah!!! As good as that is, it has created a new problem for me. I guess not really so new, I battle it off and on pretty frequently depending on what's going on in my life. When I get involved in something, I give it my complete all. So much so that it's almost like everything else in my life ceases to exist. It's like that's all I can focus on. I even wake up at night thinking about it and lose sleep.

During the last month, I was working almost 8 to 10 hours a day at school just getting everything in the room ready, getting curriculum ready, running copies, etc. I don't say that to brag or anything at all. I say that because I seem to let it consume me... and not in a good way. I come home and I'm completely exhausted so of course my house suffers because I just want to sit down and relax. I'm sure my family doesn't get the best of me during these times either. I try to not let it carry into my family but when you are physically exhausted you don't always show them the compassion they deserve. Any most of all my spiritual life suffers, which of course in turn affects everything else in my life. I spend so much time working on or doing what I am so engrossed in at the time that I either almost forget about studying the word because all I can think about is finally going to bed, or I just fall asleep trying to study. And I can definitely tell when God's word is not close to my heart.

I get so tired that on Wednesday's it would be so easy to just stay home. But I try to always go no matter how tired I am. And I am always so blessed by the words of God and I am always so glad that I went. I always feel that way about being in the word as well, but my tiredness tends to get the best of me. I've talked before in small groups about this very thing, but it's usually been involving someone else.

I am not a morning person. I'm the person who lays in bed until the last absolute second before getting up. Which generally works for me, I can usually still get everything done in my day and most importantly make sure I have the time to spend alone with God. But at these times when new things get thrown into the mix, I somehow seem to lose all sense of prioritizing and balance. I like things to be finished and completed so it gets hard for me to just leave things and come back to them later. I guess if I'm going to have any semblance at all of balance in my life, I'm going to have to learn how to prioritize my life or maybe schedule my life a little better. I don't like who I sometimes become when I let God fall to the back burner. I always pray, but my time in God's word suffers. I know that He needs to be the focus of my life no matter what else is going on and I can't let Satan change God's place in my life. So here's to seeking a more balanced life, that begins and ends with God!