The Rabbi's Dust

Last night in our Wednesday night class we watched a video called "Dust" by Rob Bell at nooma.com . We were finishing up our series on "More of What I Need to Be..." It was the second time I have seen it. It's pretty amazing if you've never seen it.

In the video, he talks about what it means to be a disciple. He goes on to explain how in some cultures children begin preparing at age 5 to follow a particular Rabbi and learn from him. They go through intense training for years to become the best of the best. At one point he talked about being covered in the dust of your Rabbi. I must have missed that comment the first time I saw it, because I have not been able to stop thinking about that statement.

To be covered in the dust of our Rabbi. Wow!! That would mean we are so close to Him that even the particles of dust that fall off of Him cling to us. That is an amazing word picture for me. It reminds me of Psalm 63:8, "My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me. " We are to get as close to Him as possible. So close, we are covered in His dust.

Being His disciple means being His disciple in even the smallest every day decisions we make. Probably even more so in those decisions. Because sometimes it's in those every day decisions that we fall away. The simple decisions that we sometimes make without thinking. Those every day decisions where even the smallest decision can affect or impact the lives of others.

I will continue to think about that statement. I want to be covered in the dust of my Rabbi, so that even when I make those small every day decisions I will make them to the Glory of God. To be covered in the dust of my Rabbi..... hmmm.... something to think about.

I'll Bet You've Never Witnessed This at a Baptism...

This kid was really eager to get baptized!!! Make sure you watch all the way 'till the end.

The Aroma's of Life

As I lay in bed last night praying and thinking about my day, I began to remember some conversations and things that happened while Ashley and I were out. (She is home for the weekend! :)

For some reason, one of the things I remembered was all the different things we smelled throughout the day. She was looking at new perfumes that were out, we smelled some new hand lotions, we passed a cookie place with cookies baking. You could smell the Mexican food from the restaurant in the mall. She was talking about how she was wanting me to cook fried chicken this weekend (her favorite meal) and I thought about the way homemade fried chicken smells cooking. I made a comment about how I think homemade brownies baking is one of the best smells in the world. The list goes on.

As I lay there, I began to think about how we smell to the world and the fragrance we emit. I don't mean anything gross or the smells of perfume and such. But when people are around us, do they sense and smell the aroma of Jesus. I'm afraid that too many times that may not be the case. I know that most of us for the most part do our best to emit the aroma of Christ. But what about when we are frustrated in traffic or someone in front of us in line is taking longer than we think they should because we are in a hurry. Even maybe when we are frustrated with our families. Do we emit the aroma of Christ then? Or do they smell the pungent odor of Satan.

My prayer is that I will be more aware of the aroma I emit in my life. And that more and more, people will only smell the sweet smell of our savior. The aroma of Jesus Christ.

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Please be in prayer for the Memorial Drive Church of Christ in Tulsa. A tragic shooting involving one of their members happened last night. Four people died. Please pray God's peace, love and compassion on all the families involved.

Oh God, Make Me a Better......

I received an email which was a prayer entitled "Oh God, Make Me a Better Parent. I got it about 2 weeks ago. I left it in my inbox and it has really caused me to ponder some things. I think the number one thing is, Oh God, Make me a more spirit filled or spirit led Christian. Our life has been so busy lately. It seems like something different almost everyday. While a lot of these things are good things, I find myself being exhausted. Exhausted to the point, that I know my spiritual life is suffering.

Why is it that when things get crazy, it seems to be our spiritual life that suffers the most. Our bible studying gets put on the back burner, we sometimes don't contemplate the spiritual things. At least that's how it seems in my life. It is something I am desperately trying to change. I go to church on Sunday and Wednesday and get charged up by the great lessons I am hearing and vow to myself right then and there to take note of things I am going to start working on. And then I leave and seem to get right back into the rat race and find trouble prioritizing things. Does this happen to anyone else??

I am so seeking to have my life completely and spiritually centered on Christ. I know if I can somehow start to get even close to that, some of the "stuff" will probably take care of itself. I will leave you with the prayer of "Oh God, Make Me Be a Better a Parent". I know that in reading it, I can replace parent with many other things. Wife, daughter, friend, teacher, etc. I'm praying I can continue to ponder these things and put them into action in my life.

Have a blessed weekend!

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OH GOD, MAKE ME A BETTER PARENT

Oh, God, make me a better parent.
Help me to understand my children,
to listen patiently to what they have to say
and to answer all their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting them,
talking back to them and contradicting them.
Make me as courteous to them
as I would have them be to me.

Give me the courage to confess my sins
against my children and to ask of them forgiveness,
when I know that I have done them wrong.

May I not vainly hurt the feelings of my children.
Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes or
resort to shame and ridicule as punishment.

Let me not tempt a child to lie and steal.
So guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate
by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.
May I cease to nag;
and when I am out of sorts,
help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.

Blind me to the little errors of my children
and help me to see the good things that they do.
Give me a ready word for honest praise.

Help me to treat my children as those of their own age,
but let me not exact on them the judgments
and convictions of adults.
Allow me not to rob them of the opportunity
to wait upon themselves,
to think, to choose, and to make decisions.

Forbid that I should ever punish them
for my self satisfaction.
May I grant them all of their wishes
that are reasonable
and have the courage always to withhold
a privilege that I know will do them harm.

Amen

-- Author Unknown

WOW!!!!

All I can say after yesterday is WOW!! We feel soooo blessed to be a part of the Highland Oaks Church of Christ!! Yesterday was one of the most inspiring worship services I have ever been a part of. We began the first of October with an Imagine Campaign. It includes updating the auditorium (the sound is horrific) and building not only for members but for groups outside of Highland Oaks that use our building weekly. It includes the Genesis Alliance to train and equip Hispanic ministers to plant churches in the metroplex and beyond. It also includes planting the Way of Life Church of Christ in East Hollywood, California where gangs are very prevalent. And finally it includes the River of Life Youth Center, which when finished will also include a fully staffed community center so the kids in the neighborhood around the church will have a safe place to get together.

Yesterday was pledge Sunday for the campaign. Each family in the church is pledging what they can do over the next 3 years to further the work in God's kingdom. There were baskets placed around the podium and all around the auditorium. They started with the ministers, elders and their family coming up to the front. The leaders at H.O. believe in leading by example. They all placed there commitment pledges in the baskets first and then families went and placed their pledges in the baskets. It was so incredible to watch so many families put there trust in God and what can be done in His Kingdom.

I forgot to mention that all of this started 2 years ago when the elders and ministers began praying for God to lead them where He wanted them to go. Several months into praying, Highland Oaks received a 1 million dollar grant from Austin Street to plant churches! Part of that is being used to plant the Hispanic Churches and the East Hollywood Church with many more to come. Two years later the Imagine campaign was born. We are just very excited to be here and working for Glory of God's kingdom!

To top things off yesterday we got to be a part of the Highland Oaks Annual Family Carnival. Oh my goodness!! What an experience! There were literally thousands of people there and at the end of the day a trick or treat line that was actually 4 lines with all 4 lines going half way around the building! (If not for the 4 lines it probably would have lapped itself around the building!!) What a blessing is was to see those kids faces light up when they walked away with an Albertson's bag full of candy! KLTY was broadcasting from the carnival, there were over 20 rides, games, climbing things, bouncing things, funhouses, etc. There were cokes, cotton candy, popcorn, chili, hot dogs and pies galore! (On a side note, I entered a coconut and cherry pie. One of the them actually one 1st place! I'm not sure which yet. But that was kind of exciting! :) They even had a booth for people to be able to get immunizations and flu shots.

It was all quite overwhelming. But what a blessing it was to get to serve all of those people and touch their lives. It was truly an exciting and very blessed and inspired day! And a great start to what promises to be a great week! Have a good one!

End of the week updates...

Things have been so busy lately I haven't had time to sit down and think about Thursday Thirteen's. So here is just a short update on some of what's been going on.

First of all, last night was my first "official" night of playing bunco with a group of ladies from Highland Oaks. I had never played before until a couple of months ago when they asked me to fill in for someone who couldn't be there. A couple of people had to drop out so now I'm officially a monthly bunco player. My kids think I'm now in an old lady group!! But it's really not! It is soooo much fun! And it's mindless which is kind of nice... it's hard to think after a long day with 4 years olds! More than playing, it's a great time of fellowship. We eat together first (of course! that's what us C of C er's do :) Then after we visit, we play with whatever time is left. Then we visit some more. It's just great! And I love getting to know these women. They are sooo much fun!

Chris has been gone all week in L.A. on business. I had to go to his office a couple of times and run some jobs for him with him on the phone telling me what to do. I am picking him up at the airport this afternoon... Yeah!!! A week seems like forever. I'll be glad when he's home.

Ashley went to New Orleans last weekend on a fall break campaign with Southern Hills. They completely gutted two houses that hadn't been touched since Hurricane Katrina. She had a great time and got to meet some new friends. They drive through the outer edge of Mesquite coming and going. They stopped about every 3 hours during the drive. We haven't seen her in about a month and coming back they were stopping somewhere in the metroplex for a break. Her driver was nice enough to stop in Mesquite off of I-20 for their break since we were here. It was great to see her. She of course asked if we could bring her a Starbuck's drink, which we did. And she gave us an Aunt Sally's Praline from New Orleans she had brought for us. At least a part of one. She had already eaten some of it. They are hard to resist!

She met a new friend named Whitney while on campaign. Whitney is Ashley's age and has a pacemaker. She started having trouble this past week and had to go home to the doctor in San Antonio yesterday to determine if she would need some type of surgery or not. She sees the doctor today and possibly could have surgery either Monday or Tuesday. Please be in prayer for her.

Ashley is still working at the Abilene Reporter Newspaper and she also doing some substitute teaching. That's hard to believe!! She did kindergarten a couple of weeks ago. Today she is subbing in a middle school math class! We'll see how that goes! Ashley stopped growing in height at about 5 ft. Maybe 5' 1"... so the some of the kids may be taller than she is. I'm anxious to hear from her this afternoon!

Jeremy is working fast and furious on Beauty and the Beast. They have rehearsal every day after school until around 6:00 or 6:30. That will soon become some Saturday's and after school every day until around 10:00 or 10:30. He keeps drugged up on vitamin C so hopefully he can stay healthy and not get run down. He is having a blast though!! You never hear him complain. He wouldn't have it any other way! Thanks so much for all the encouraging words everyone sent. I got emails or blog notes from over 30 people. I printed each one on different colors of paper and hung them all over the closet doors in his room. He couldn't believe all of the notes. You made him feel very special and loved. Thank you!!

We are working at the annual Highland Oaks Fall Carnival this Sunday afternoon. It's from 2:30 to 6:00. It's our first time to be there during the carnival and it seems to be a really big deal. KLTY broadcast their show live from the carnival. They have tons of food, rides, etc. Last year 8,000 people attended. This year they are expecting around 10,000! If you're in the area, stop by and say hello. We'll be there all day somewhere.

Lastly, I thought I'd post of couple of current pictures of Ashley and Jeremy. You might not recognize them if you saw them on the street. Especially Jeremy, he has matured so much over the last couple of years.

Anyway, I pray that everyone has blessed and wonderful weekend!

Love ya!

Just Randomness...

For everyone who grew up loving Grease, this is just great!

http://i.euniverse.com/funpages/cms_content/12925/greaserbabies.swf

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Open House

We had our dayschool open house last night. It's one of those times I really sort of dread. I enjoy getting all their work together and decorating, but it's the getting back up there after a long day of school that is sometimes tough. Even though it made for a long day, it was so worth seeing the excitement on all of those kids faces as they paraded their parents around the room and showed them all of their work. Their were all so proud of themselves!

I am teaching 4 year olds this year and I am having a blast! We are doing a lot of cool things and I think all the kids pretty much think I'm crazy. I like to keep things fun and I'm really just a big kid at heart. I have a really good class and they are eager to learn. It's really been great!

It is such an exciting year, but also kind of sad. Please be in prayer for our dayschool. The elders will be deciding probably after the 1st of the year whether or not to keep the dayschool doors open at the end of this school year. This is my 15th year to be involved with the dayschool and I hate to see it close it doors. It has been a tremendous benefit to lots of children and has the potential to impact many more lives in a very positive way. Please pray for God's blessings upon us. Have a blessed week!

I am.... An Idiot Driver Magnet!!

I jokingly told someone last week I might post about idiot drivers... well, the time has come and it is now. I really think I am an idiot driver magnet! I know, I know... those of you who have known me for quite a while know that I have a history of a very big lead foot! Some might even say a lead leg to go along with it! But I promise you, my driving habits have changed immensely since I started riding a motorcycle last October. Riding a motorcycle really does make you a better driver. I am more aware of everything going on around me (apparently for very good reason!) and believe it or not, I don't go over 5 miles over the speed limit anymore. (at least 98 percent of the time:)

But almost every time I am on the road someone around me is acting crazy!! It doesn't matter if I'm in our 4 door truck or on the motorcycle, it's like I'm a magnet for every idiot driver on the road. I kind of think I might have brought this on myself a few months ago after our Wednesday night class. We were talking about love, patience, compassion and the like and what we might need to work on in our own lives. I left thinking I need to be more compassionate to drivers around me and not call them names but ask God to bless them. I think that let the flood gates open.

Since then my driving life has gone wild. I have had people almost run me into the curb while on the motorcycle. Another lady watched me approaching and then pulled out right into my lane just as I got there and made me have to swerve around her. People are constantly pulling right in front of me where there is no room in the truck. The other day, someone cut across 3 lanes of traffic from the right directly in front of me to turn left. Last week I was stopped at a light on a very steep hill while on the motorcycle and watch in my mirror as the person behind me pulled up so close to me a person could barely walk through! Fortunately I can keep from rolling when starting on a hill. But the best one happened to me while I was sitting at the light last week, waiting to go into the mall parking lot. I was on the motorcycle completely stopped at the red light, waiting to cross the intersection to go into the mall. I saw a car coming up behind me in the mirror. I was reminded of the week before and the person pulling so close to me on the hill. I continued to watch as she slowed down but kept rolling. I kept thinking surely she is going to stop... I'm sitting right here. But no, she continued to roll closer and closer until she literally rolled into the back of my bike! Fortunately she was not going fast enough to do any damage and didn't knock me off the bike. But I swear, I think I must have a sign on my back that says "All Idiot Driver's Enter Here"!

I am trying very hard to show more compassion to other driver's, but Satan is making it extremely difficult! Does anyone else feel like an Idiot Driver Magnet??

Please keep me in your prayers as I venture out onto those crazy roads today :)

Sweet Memories

I was looking through some old pictures this week trying to find something I wanted to use in Jeremy's musical program. As I was searching, I ran across these pictures. Wow!! What memories they bring back. It is so fun to look through pictures and remember sweet memories you hadn't thought about in a while. So I thought I would share some memories with you. We are still good friends with each of these families even though all but one of them have moved and are not so close in distance any more.

This one is Jeremy & Josh Hardcastle.
They were in the 3 year old class at the Mesquite Dayschool together.
This was right before the Hardcastle's moved Lubbock.
They are now in Abilene and Jeremy & Josh are both juniors in High School!



The next two are of Ashley & Karisa Butler.
They were 13 years old at the time.
They are both in college now! Ashley in her 3rd year at ACU
and Karisa in her 2nd year at Belmont in Tennessee.





The next one is of Ashley and Rebekah Mock at 13.
Rebekah is now in Medina, Texas working as a nail technician.



The next two are of Ashley, Jeremy and Malaya Bizillion.
This was our first year to go to Celebrate Freedom.
It rained all night the night before and all that morning.
It was muggy, humid and about 800 degrees!!
We have since decided we like indoor concerts much better.
Malaya is now in 1st grade!
The Bizillions now live in Keller.

I hope you got as big a kick out of some of these as I did! Sweet, sweet memories! I hope everyone has a great week!

Blessings!

A Beast of a Week

This week has kind of been one of those weeks with lots of "stuff" going on. Lots of good stuff, but still lots of stuff none the less. One of those weeks where I'm glad the weekend is almost here. We've had several late nights, lots of good stuff at church going on and Jeremy has been working hard for the musical tryouts for Mesquite High School. They have been trying out in some sort of fashion almost everyday since last Friday. They had call backs tonight and parts were suppose to be posted by tomorrow morning for school. Well, one of his friends had a church function at the school tonight and called Jeremy to tell him the parts were already posted. Jeremy went to school to check and this PROUD MOM is proud to say, that Jeremy got the role of The Beast in the musical Beauty and the Beast!!! He is on cloud 9!! And so is his momma!! The musical will be in January. So if you happen to be in the area on January 11th, 12th or 13th, I know he would love to see you! The musical will be in the Mesquite High School auditorium at 7:00 p.m each of those nights. I'm not sure how much the tickets are right now, but I know you can save a couple of dollars if you get advanced tickets. They won't go on sale until probably late December.

Whew Hoo!!! I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight! I hope everyone has as great a weekend as our has started out to be!

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.
_____________________________________

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!