Long time .. No Blog.

Had a great LG meeting this week. We are in the middle of a book called "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan. If you have not had the pleasure, you should read it. If you will allow it, it will change your outlook on how we are to love God.
Things going on in life now:

Last night, Bridgette signed a lease to move from her apartment into a house this August, and has no plans of moving back home. She has a long-time boyfriend, and they are crazy about each other. It's hard to think that your kid is not coming back to the nest.

Destiny just turned 18, graduated High School, and has sworn into the Navy .. that was all within a week! Her official date to leave is not until May 2010, but she will probably leave earlier. Also, she has a boyfriend, Nick, he's one of her long-time friends, and part of the Schmavis Family. I couldn't hand-pick a better guy for her.

Karl left the house this morning for his first official "paying" job. He is going to work on John's yard, for money. He's growing up .. in maturity and in stature. He plans to spend his summer doing the P90X workout with his Dad, and plans to go back to school in the 6th Grade in shape!

Mark is 4 1/2 weeks post-op from foot surgery. He is doing well, but as far as he is concerned not healing quick enough. I call him "Gimpy", it seems to put him in a better mood. =) One of our cars died, so Mark and I are now sharing his truck. We ride to Frisco together at a horribly early time of the morning (we leave the house at 6:15! .. yes, AM!!). However, it is really working out well, better than either one of us expected.

I am working up the gumption to get on the diet and do some workouts. I know as soon as the doc releases Mark, we will be working out together. I hope to loose some of the weight and start feeling better.

That's all I got for now........ =)

Bukkit

I just wanted to put something happy on my blog!

I now have a new kitty. Not everyone is pleased, but I am. His name is Bukkit. If you have as much fun looking at the lolcats as I do, you will understand the name,"Bukkit". When I hold him, he makes me happy. When Mark stole him away and tried to get rid of him, I was sad, just like the Walrus.

I would like for Bukkit to be an inside cat because even though he is a kitten, he is really good to go outside when he needs to, and he is just easy to be around. Except for his new habit. He is a great "mouser". The only problem is when he catches these huge mice outside, he likes to bring them in through the doggie door to show me what he has done. This is kind of a deal-breaker with me. So, we shall see how much inside time he gets from here on out!

I am very disappointed in the presidential election.

My son, Karl, got up this morning and was very sad to hear that Obama had won the election. Karl had decided that we needed to move to New Zealand.

Right then, I realized that even though we had taught Karl the importance of the freedoms that we have; the freedom to pray, to worship, and to vote, we had missed the part about respect.

I think we should really watch how we speak of our President-Elect. No matter how much we disagree with him and his policies and wonder about his background, he will soon be our President. This may not have been in God's perfect Will, but God is still in control. Therefore, no matter how much we might hate it, God allowed Senator Obama to be where he is today.

We, as followers of Christ, now more than ever, need to fall on our knees and pray for President-Elect Obama, and for our Country. It is our only hope.

We, as followers of Christ, must also remember that when we insult our leaders, that our children are learning, from us, to dis-respect these leaders. How are we ever going to expect them to grow up and have a society where respected leaders are in charge, if we teach them that our elected officials do not deserve our respect?

I write this only to share the reminder that I was given through my own child's words this morning.

Prayer is the Answer

As I have written before there is a family that I consider my own, the Schmitts. Darron & Jana Schmitt are now in a situation that is calling for us to PRAY. Their son, Jarod, is not feeling well, and has had some testing done. There is a chance that he could have a serious illness. We will not know for another week. It could be something as simple as a virus, or as serious as leukemia. I know that we are always looking to keep our privacy in these days and times, but I think the need for your prayer outweighs the need for privacy in this particular situation. So, after reading this, please take time to pause and pray for Jarod, Darron, Jana, and Alyssa in this very tough time.

I am FREE!

Before Lifeway Church’s Freedom series, if you would have asked me to define Freedom I would have answered from a patriotic sense. I would have said that Freedom means we are free to worship God and to witness to others without any consequences. We are a free nation, free to make our own choices about our life and family. We are free to do whatever makes us happy.

The world’s answer to being free is to do what it takes to make you happy. There is advertising and talk shows with advice on how to be happy. We are shown time and time again that happy people are healthier, they are more productive, and they provide a more stable environment for their spouse and children. Some, however, take making themselves happy too far, and forget basic right/wrong principles.

I have been hyper-sensitive to this. I have known in my own mind that instead of seeking my own happiness, I should seek God’s will for me, and that in the end, His Will will be what makes me happy. The problem is that I don’t always follow God’s will for my life. I want to, but sin gets in the way, and I feel unworthy of being happy.

I worry about what people think, and how I portray myself to others. In a crowd or at church, I strive to fit in and disappear, so that I won’t have that “one thing” that sticks out in people’s minds, something that might be annoying or make me seem like an idiot. Even if I do something good, I don’t really want to be recognized, because I worry about what others are going to say about me in the car on their way home.
What I have learned in this Freedom Series is that I can be free from my past hurts, and that it took dredging up that past and realizing that the past and those hurts have really played a major part in my present life. I have learned that I have a performance addiction to work hard, and to fit in at church and at home with friends and family, so that I can get the approval of others, so they won’t go home and talk about me and how lazy I am. However, the most important thing that I have learned is that it’s okay to have these weaknesses. I still have sin in my life, and I have to continually ask for forgiveness, but its okay, I can still allow myself to be happy.
You see, the world is right; we need to seek out our own “happy”. God intended for us to be happy. In Jeremiah 29:11 He says, ”For I now the plans that I have for you,..plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” .. not for calamity .. God intended for us to be happy. To be happy and free, we have to depend squarely on God. He is the root of all Happiness. However, being happy is an action, like a verb. It is a choice, not a result. I now have the freedom to be happy!

My Political Side

In just the last month, our world is realizing that change must take place. Just look at the economy and the war. Things are not great in our Nation right now. It is obvious that we need change. The worst thing I can see about this crisis is that our fellow Americans are willing to accept anyone who acknowledges that the Country needs change. Why can’t our Country see that the change we need is be One Nation Under God???