Where'd it go?

I can not believe it is Saturday already! This week just seemed to disappear from right in front of my eyes! It's been a trying week. Johnathan has not had smooth sailing in school, I got a bit upset with my husband (that's putting it nicely), and I've listed my inventory on the Internet to try to get rid of it at cost. It's been a down week, I retreated into my comfort zone. Staying home as much as possible, and hiding. What can I say? I know it's not right, but it's what I do. Always have.

But, today is feeling better. Michael has a basketball game. The poor boy doesn't really want to go. His team hasn't won a game yet, they have three different guys that take turn coaching. There's no real structure to his team, and it shows on the court. I don't want to let him stop going, the team needs him (most games they barely have enough boys to make a team), but more importantly, I don't want to teach him it's okay to quit just because your down. It's hard though, even I have a hard time sitting in the stands listening to parents of the other team cheer and correct their boys. It's so hard to hear them yelling things at the kids. I just want to blurt out "They're winning already! They're good enough, stop yelling at them!"

I got a package in the mail today from the Wamego School District. I don't know what to make of it. Apparently my oldest was referred to them for testing. But in this packet it asks a lot of questions about our personal life. I don't like it. If I was going to be sent such a thing, you'd think someone would have called me and let me know. As far as I know Michael's been doing good at school. I wanted, tried, pushed for Johnathan to get tested, nothing. Absolutely nothing. But they're pushing Michael. The only thing I can figure, is that Michael is academically behind, so he looks bad on their statistics, and want to move heaven and earth to get him to normal. Johnathan on the other hand looks just fine on their testing results. No need to allow him to move up.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being overly negative, but when I'm not being contacted about these things, what else am I supposed to do besides come to my own conclusions?

Anyhow... I talked with the missionaries from Wycliff today. God is so good, and I just LOVE it when he moves people places and orchestrates happenings. It's a reminder that He is indeed an all powerful God. It makes me all happy to see Him work!

Is it the death of a dream?

I've shared rather publicly (I think) about my business adventure, and my struggle with it. It was almost a year ago (shy a few months) that I really felt like I was supposed to start this on-line scrapbook shop. Man, I jumped hurdles and went through hoops to get this started. Then life happened. Fast forward to the last two months, and I've been really struggling. Feeling guilty over not putting in the time and effort that any business needs to actually function. This led to me nearly feeling bad for taking care of my family. Thank the good Lord above, it never got quite that bad.

So, with the husband gone once again, I made it my goal to get the business straightened out, and up and running, it all started with prayer. A prayer that God would make the path He wants for me obvious to me. The beginning of this week was when I started to see it coming in the distance. Anything that could go wrong did. Things that I never even thought of came out of the woodwork. And today was the clincher.

I watched as my daughter took off her sneaker and poured sand onto the living room carpet. I could not believe what she was doing! She watched the little granules pour out of her shoe, much like one would poor water from a measuring cup, she watched them fall to the floor. "What are you doing!?!?!?" Was my immediate reaction. "You do that outside! Don't you know? I mean, it's obvious!!"

"It's obvious!", is what I heard from my Lord. Now's not the time. He's given me four beautiful kids (though not always the brightest) to nurture, and love, and constantly point them to Him. He's given me a husband to love, come along side of, and comfort. He's given me a fabulous church body to grow in, to serve, to learn with. He's given me other family and friends, to encourage, comfort and love. And he's given me a host of acquaintances that I need to put more time and effort into getting to know. For the slight chance that they'll notice His light within me, and I'll have the opportunity to point them to Him. He has given me people, people all around me. That's what I'm supposed to be doing. That is my role.

So while I am really truly having to fight off the enemy and his whispers of "See! You failed, AGAIN!" "Boy, weren't you dumb to think you could do something like that." I'm okay with it. Cause what on this earth is worth holding onto? I mean really, what is worth more than my Lord? He loves me, he has plans for me, things that I could never imagine. So I shall give this up to Him, because he asks me. I will continue to put my time and energy to work at serving Him. I do think my hobby of making cards is great for that. Through those things I can brighten other people's days. So I'm not giving that up, but the business part, I've got to let it go.

Tomorrow will be a challenge for me. I'm meeting with Johnathan's teachers after school. The boy has been having major behavior problems at school. I've been assessing it from all possible angles and I have a few ideas of what could be causing it. I'm just praying that God would give both his teachers, and myself the wisdom to see what is best for this little boy.

Thank you Lord!

Oye, oye, oye, oye, oye! Yup... that's right FIVE "oye"s! This last week and a half has been one heck of a doozy. All kinds of family turmoil going on since the husband left once again. Seemingly, our seven year old son was hit the hardest this time around. Just outright awful behavior at school. He was sent home early from school one day, and in the principle's office three other times. Yesterday I was actually brought to tears. I had done everything I could think of. I've prayed, lectured him, punished him, restricted him, sought his ATA instructor's help and even spanked him. Nothing. Then last night I tried one more time, asking him about the classes he doesn't have problems in first. I asked what he liked most about each of his classes, what was hard, what was easy. As I suspected, the two classes he has most of his problems in, he told me were way to easy. I reminded him as I had months ago, that because he doesn't do his best work, his teacher's don't know that it's too easy. His eyes lit up as I explained yet again that he was doing assessments and that he needs to show his teachers how smart he really is so they'll let him go up to the next class.

Today... a perfect day. No talking back, no fits, no throwing papers on to the floor, no broken pencils. He was such a happy boy today, skipping and smiling and talking all sorts. He was my Johnathan again, and it is so nice to have him back.

I didn't realize it, but the stress of having to deal with a kid that just doesn't get it, really took a toll on me. I had absolutely no creativity in me at all, he was draining me. I ate mindlessly, stuffing more stuff in my mouth, even when I knew I wasn't hungry I wanted anything sweet. Unfortunately I am now at the weight I was before I lost all my weight this last year. It so totally sucks! All those nice clothes I had bought are skin tight. Now granted, I didn't put 20 pounds on in a week, but I had planned to get back in shape, and instead went the exact opposite direction.

Also because of all the stresses, and other things going on, I have not had anytime for working on my business. This is something I placed in the Lord's hands, wanting to know if it's something I should be pursuing. All I've been hearing form him is that I already have a job. Granted it doesn't pay any money, but being mom to my kids, teacher to the kids at church, IS my job. It really kind of broke me. I feel like once again, I've started something and haven't finished it. Once again, I failed at something. But after I mourned the loss of a dream of mine, I told Him that yes, I do love my hobby, but I love my kids more. I will not sacrifice them for my dream of finding my place in that industry. While I'm not yet joyful over it, I have come to terms with it. So if I still don't get things all straightened out in the next four weeks, I'll be okay with letting that go. Maybe that's all God really wants from me. For me to put it on the alter to him.

Anywhoo... I have my plate full, and it can be really hard trying to decide what gets done that day and what doesn't. I'm just thankful that this is not my home. I'm looking forward to the other side of eternity!

Just sharing...

Uh-oh. Looks like I'm becoming a once a week blogger! Well, it happens to the best of us from time to time. The Lord's been working on me and I've realized I have to prioritize things in my life. With four kids, a hubby, children's ministry, crazy dog, and household duties... it just goes on and on. But you know, God is good... and as long as I continue to seek after His will, things will be all right.

I've been struggling a lot lately on my scrapbook business I'm trying to get off the ground. Okay, ex that... wanting to get off the ground, cause let's face it, I haven't spent much time on it at all. I've been feeling so much guilt over that. I don't want to give it up, because it is something I love so much, not to mention I am notorious for starting ventures and not seeing them through. But with prayer and Godly friends, I've finally come to a decision.

Our woman's group at church is doing a study about true freedom in Christ. Previously when I'd hear the word "captive" I'd think something big. Like a childhood trauma that you can't seem to shake, or drug use, or alcohol, something like that. But I've come to understand that anything in your life that does not allow you to live in the fullest riches of Christ, a Spirit filled life is a sort of captor. For me... that's my busy schedule.

Let's take yesterday for example. (Warning, I know this is already a boring post, but it's about to get worse!) Hubby's alarm went off at 4am, and I struggled to get back to sleep. Finally got up just before 7am. Get the kids off to school and return home for an hour to do speech exercises with my youngest. Head out the door to run some errands, pick up some silk flowers for the church, go to library story time with my daughter, head out to base to have lunch with my hubby, go into walmart for a few necessities. We returned home for an hour, of which I spent making sandwiches for the evening and watched a tiny bit of the inauguration activities. Then it was promptly off to pick up my children, drive out to Wamego for Kirsten's gymnastics, do homework with the boys while we're there, get Johnathan to Takewando, let Michael eat his food. Load them all back into the van allow the rest of the kids to eat while we're on our way to Michael's basketball. Drive out to meet hubby in Manhattan where we traded vehicles and thankfully (oh so very thankfully) I was able to go to women's bible study. But in a week hubby leaves, again, for six weeks, so it's back to doing it on my own. Anyhow, I return home at 9pm. A good 13 hours after I left in the morning.

Life is just busy! Sure, not all my days are spent out of the house, but there are times when I allow that busy-ness to overwhelm me. I loose my joy, loose sight of what is truly important in life. When I reach the end of my life, will my biggest regret be not pursuing my business? No. I will be happy knowing that my children had a mother that they knew without a shadow of a doubt loved them. I don't want to be that mom that is only there to yell at and correct them when they do wrong. Likewise I want to be the wife that the husband looks forward to coming home to. My family is my most important ministry. They have to come first.

So anyhow... as to my decision. I'm giving myself the six weeks hubby is gone to get my act together. With him gone I'll have my evenings to myself (that's the theory any way) and I should be able to get it all up and running. I'm praying that if God wants this in my life, then He will go before me and smooth out the bumps. If this is not something in his will, then I want a whole lot of obstacles in the way so it will be obvious to me.

Any whoo... I'm not sure where all that came from. lol I'd just like to point you to the text below the "Simply Shenanigans"... ramblings... questionable sanity... yeah. That's my disclaimer! This week, I'm praying for my friend J... may contractions come and you have that little one! My friend Lisa... praying for God's provision and peace in your lives, and a clear vision for you to return! My friend Nona... keep her, her boys (including hubby) safe. My church kids... may they get excited about the party we're going to be throwing, and the congregation as well. And myself... may I keep first things first, and second things second!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's that day again! The often under appreciated day when we are reminded of all the blessings we have in our life. And I have lots of them! I could easily sit here and type out a list of 100 things I have to be thankful for. The good Lord has given me so many blessings in my life. As I redecorated this blog for Christmas, I hope all my friends, and those who happen to cross my blog somehow will see the Lord's fingerprints in their lives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What I've learned...

Today has been a busy day filled with ups and downs. It could so easily make a long post of details, much like a checked off "to do" list. But you know, I think at the end of this day, I must stop and reflect on why it was the way it was. What was God trying to whisper in my ear today?

How about the fact that even though you know what's best for your children, they often want to learn their lesson on their own, which means doing it the hard way. The same could be said of those of us who are God's children. He knows what's best for us, and we know He knows what's best for us. But we are determined to give our way a shot, and finding out, often times the hard way, that we really should have tried His way.

Or how about the first person to volunteer to reprimand, usually isn't the one who should be doing it. Rather it should be the one who is most hesitant to speak. Being less "gung ho" about correcting someone gives you time to pray for the correct words so you can approach the person with love, rather than self righteousness. And when you pray for God's guidance regarding the way in which you should approach someone, He will always provide, if you are the one He wants to use. If you don't hear from Him, then pray some more and keep your mouth shut!

How about the best laid out plans need to be disposable. When God wants to interrupt your daily planner, let Him!

Then there's always the fact that you never know just what an impact you have on someones life. You may not hear from a person, and you think your deeds are unnoticed, or really don't amount to beans. When truthfully you've made a huge impact on their life, and they just don't know how to tell you.

And every now and then, the things your children do that worry you the most, are the exact same things you were guilty of yourself as a kid. And you must ponder... am I lecturing them, or me when I was that age? Let's face it, our kids are "just like us" and it drives us nuts!

To those whom I take for granted, I am sorry. I pray that I will listen closer to God's tiny whisper.

Out of breath...

I am a bit out of breath. Literally. Today has been a whirlwind, and I am definitely looking forward to a smoother tomorrow. My day started off badly, I couldn't find the dog's shot records, so as I looked for it I was wishing my mom a happy birthday. Head off to the vet's, drop the dog off back home and head out to a friends house to brief him and the pastor so he can take over the admin stuff at church. Come home for half an hour before getting my youngest from school, help him with his homework, go back and get my other two. Head out to Pizza Hut so they could use their book it coupons, drive through a huge storm out to base to deliver a title, then head to trainin on base. Get home, it's already 9pm. I feel like today was so packed full of stuff, if it weren't for my headache I'd fall asleep instantly. Thankfully tomorrow's highlights are dishes, laundry, prepping my Sunday School lesson and eating lunch with my kids at school. I am looking forward to it!

The meeting on base tonight was interesting. I am struggling to not be so selfish. My hubby will be one of the last ones home since he's training their replacements. They're expecting the majority of hubby's company home no later than the 15th of this month. The rear d shared that they'll have 5 days of reintergration stuff, after that they're pretty much going to have nothing to do until their block leave. So here, my husband isn't coming home till after the 6th of December, he misses a tiny bit of block leave. It just feels that those leaving now are getting an extra month of leave. I should be happy for them, but I'm jealous! I know envy is a sin, but it's so hard to not feel like you're getting the short end of the stick.

I was surprised to hear that the guys that came back about three weeks ago, they've already had a drunk driving arrest, sexual assault and something else. To sit and listen to other wives share their frustrations and how they pretty much don't want their husband's home. It's just sad. These are real people, real lives, and they're so screwed up. I'm so thankful I know Jesus. He's the only reason I'm okay, and I don't know how people do it without him!

Nada...

Nothing, nada, zilch, zero, that's how much stuff I've gotten done today. I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to get motivated. I'm not depressed, I just have no energy and no drive to do anything. Maybe staying up past one in the morning did me in. My mom wants me to get my thyroid checked since problems with that run in the family. Maybe it's my lack of exercise lately. What ever it is, it has me in a funk. Despite having a nifty schedule that should be keeping me on task, I just want to lay on the couch. I did go to the school and eat lunch with my kids. In a few hours I'll be picking them up, dashing to Kirsten's gymnastics, grabbing some food to eat and getting back to the school. Johnathan is missing Taekwando today because Michael and Kirsten have a concert they're in at the school. They have to dress up prairie style. Michael is so nervous because he gets to play the Xylophone and he hasn't quite mastered it. Before going to school, they keep telling me "make sure you bring your camera mom"! So they're excited.

In other news... I got an e-mail from a woman that was a dear friend of mine back in highschool. Her hubby is in the Army and they're expecting to be moved to the same base my hubby is stationed at this summer. I'm excited to see her, meet her hubby and two boys. People change a lot in life, I'm not the same person I was back in highschool, but it'll be neat to catch up with her.

Hubby sent me good news via e-mail. During their deployment award ceremony Sgt. Major told him he wants hubby heading up the Tactical Airspace Integration System (TAIS) team when they return. This is huge and such a sign of God's hands at work. Thanks to a couple different people in charge at different times, hubby had pretty much been dismissed as a looser, having no future in the Army. Now he's finally being recognized for what he does. I know it'll make a welcomed change for him. Maybe now he'll be happier in his career. Before that ever happened though, he had to get right with God for that to happen. I'm just so glad to see Him work, He is a great God.

Hmm... lets see... there was something else that I can't remember right now. Guess my brain is on vacation too!

It's coming...

Today has been a frantic day. Not in the chaotic sense of the word, as I'm glad I've gotten a bit more organized with my tasks lately. But it's been busy busy busy. Tuesday morning is my youngest's speech class, so I spend near an hour bringing the kids to school, and various things. Then we head out to do errands. I had to bring my new wedding ring to the jeweler for it's six month check up. Gosh that sounds really goofy, but I have to bring it in to keep it's warranty in tact. Anyhow, they cleaned it, and wow it's shiny. Who knew it had gotten so dirty!

Anyhow, then it was off to the library for story time for my youngest. Then to hobby lobby for searching for supplies. I couldn't find anything that was a clincher, so I got one of everything and figured this way I could play around with them at home and come up with something then go get enough supplies to do all of my project. Naturally that took waaaaay too long. lol

Then off to walmart for the typical items needed all the time. I got home a good hour later than what I had planned, so there was little time before driving to the school and picking up the kids since it was pouring rain. We were home less than two hours before I headed out with my youngest two, leaving the older two at home. We had taekwando and women's bible study, I didn't get home till 9pm. This is exactly what I'm talking about when I feel like I don't get to see my kids. I got to see them a whole two hours today. It's what I don't like about public school, the kids spend more and more time away from family, it's only a matter of time before the family bond isn't so strong. This is one of the reasons I've struggled lately with all my church responsibilities. I took on half of the admin, then a couple months later the sunday school got added on, then a couple months later I got the rest of the admin added. I've been so buried down with extra activities when my kids don't have school, I'm busy with church stuff. Yes, we are to put our God first, but it goes, God, family, church. I can't be the jack of all trades, I'm practically a single mom right now, I can't sacrifice my kids for the church.

So, I prayed, and Sunday I told our pastor that I need to pass on the admin duties to someone else by the end of the month. If I had it my way, I'd be passing on the Sunday School responsibility, but God has made it obvious that wasn't what he wanted. Today I found out that someone else has stepped up to take over the admin, and I'm sooooo looking forward to it. The next two weeks are going to be laden with extra duties as I need to train the new person in all the ins and outs of the paperwork and financial aspects of it, but once it's done, I will feel like I am getting my priorities in line. Just in time for the hubby to come home. :)

Wow... lookie there, I've gone on and on. I'm not even going to go back through and spell check it... too much to do, too little time. So I'm just going to finish with, God is sooooooooooooooooooo good!

14 cards, oh my!

Today's kind of mellow. I have been having a really hard time focusing lately because of the events going on in my family. Today I had planned that the sunday school kids would watch a veggie tales movie just because I wasn't at my best. The teacher of the preschoolers and I ended up combining classes, and it was just amazing how God had prepared her to provide for my kids as well. God is really good!!

There are some other things going on at church that I find just really bothersome. I feel torn and lost, I wish I knew what God has in mind for me and my family. One day we'll find out. God provides a light to our feet, not a spotlight to show us the whole journey. One step at a time!

((Portions of this post have been relocated to here.

Wacky Wednesday

Hola big world! I'm sitting here on my couch with Backyardigans on the tv and seeing our puppy go to town licking my daughter's feet and legs. It's almost as if Nahla thinks she's the mom and Caitlin's the pup. Should I be offended that Nahla is telling me my daughter is dirty? lol It's funny though.

Yesterday I visited with Johnathan's teachers after school. (You can see the reason why two posts down.) I still don't know exactly what the solution will look like, but it became painfully obvious to me, that part of the problem was the lack of communication between the teachers and I. They had to go so far as to put him on a special plan where he tries to earn rewards for good behavior, and I wasn't told about it! So I approached them asking for what types of things they've done in the past to keep better communication with parents when needs like this arise. So now he has a notebook that he has to bring to every class he goes to. The teachers will write just a little note on if he's had a good day or not, and he'll bring it home to me. I'm hopeful. Part of the issue is he knows they don't have any real consequences to give him. He leaves school and leaves his problems. Now he'll be held accountable for his behavior at school at home. I'm hoping this will help him make better decisions. This morning I had him stand in front of my bathroom mirror and I used styling cream to make his bangs stand up/out. He liked the extra attention and then I held his hands and prayed for him. It seemed to have given him a new confidence as I asked him if he was going to have a good day at school he shook his head yes and pointed up and said "Because of God." I am so thankful that Jesus is real in their lives. I don't know for sure if he's believed in Christ with a saving faith, but at least he's getting a decent foundation. Who knows, maybe this is why God has allowed this to go so far, maybe Johnathan needs more discipling.

Any how, Caitlin and I will be heading to the library today to do story time. I haven't done a story time at a library since my first two were itty bitty things. I'm hoping this will become a weekly thing for us, something special between Caitlin and I.

Hubby called this morning. It's official he's reenlisting this Friday! Woo-hoo! And God's fingerprints are all over it. He's likely to even be promoted come November. Double woo-hoo! God is good. So very, very good.

Which reminds me, I have card kits to put together. During Calvary Kids Club the kids of the church are going to be working on getting packages together for Operation Christmas Child. Their leader wants the kids to make cards to go in them, so I volunteered to put kits together for them. Hey any reason to stop by Hobby Lobby is a good one for me. :)

Calling me again...

You know, sometimes I am just blown away by my Lord. I've been missing from here a few short days. Though I'm sure no one missed me, I'm going to share my heart anyway. It's weird, I don't know if it's because I'm human, because I'm a woman, or because I'm me, but my life seems to go in the same old cycle. A rich closeness with God, then some complacency. Then something comes my way to kick me back into my closeness with him. For the last almost month, I've been in that state of complacency. Yesterday he kicked me back into closeness with him, and I am so very thankful He never gives up on me. If I were him, I would have kicked me to the curb ages ago! But His love is never ending, never fading, always there for me. I am glad to say however that my bouts of complacency are getting less and less severe, so at least I'm learning something on the way.

Anyhow, a couple days ago a sister in the Lord called me, wanting some advice on dealing with family that is against her beliefs. Her husband had encouraged her to call me because he knows I've been there and dealt with that. Then yesterday I was chatting with a dear brother in Christ, and he told me that I was such a rock, he knows he could always count on me to point him in the right direction. And you know, I felt so convicted! I mean, on one hand it's great that those close to me know I will do my best to point them in the Lord's direction, but if these people knew what I struggle with they wouldn't be so quick to complement me. Then yesterday, I was getting bombarded by unclean thoughts. I mean things were just coming at me left and right, it was as if someone else was in my head. And I was convicted. I go to church Sunday Morning, Sunday Evening, and Tuesday nights. Other than those times, I'm ashamed to say my Bible has not been opened in the last month. No wonder I was suddenly susceptible to attacks, whether these thoughts were coming from my flesh, the world, or the evil one's henchmen, it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that they weren't from God, so they had no business being in my head!

On the way to church last night I had a compilation CD I was listening to. "My Jesus" by Todd Agnew came on, and I began bawling. I love this song, always have from the moment I first heard it. It reminded me of all my Lord has done for me, and how dare I forget that!

I don't know why I felt compelled to share this. Maybe just because of my natural want to share things, maybe someone is going to stumble across it when they come to see the cards I've submitted, I don't know. But really, it doesn't matter. At least I'm being obedient again. Now if I could just kill that stupid cycle!!

Christmas is... challenge

You know, the Lord is good!! I have been creating cards all day long thanks to Splitcoaststampers challenges. The kids are wanting to earn a little extra money, so they've raked leaves, done a little laundry and now they're finishing up the dishes. Yeah, so all that work is going to end up costing me about six dollars, but hey, I think it's worth it! I get to create and they actually want to do chores, so it's a win-win situation.

In between stamping I got an e-mail from my hubby. His Marine Corps paperwork was accepted, so maybe, just maybe he'll manage to get promoted as well! Did I say good?? Nah, He's great!

((Portions of this post have been relocated to here. ))

Leaves, Knees, and God things

I warn ya ahead of time, I feel this will be rather rambly.

These last few days have been buh-seee. (busy, emphasized!) My hubby no longer has Internet, and my moms on vacation, so I haven't unloaded on any one.

Lets start with leaves! The calendar says tomorrow is the first day of fall, but our trees have been shedding their leaves for over a week. And when you have nine trees in your backyard, plus at least five around the perimeter. All those trees leave a ton of leaves! And we're only at the beginning of the season! I love how pretty the landscape gets this time of year. I grew up in the desert where there is no such thing as four seasons. There's winter and summer, that's it. Oh wait, I forgot the monsoon season! But all those leaves are a lot of work. Thankfully I have three kids that are getting bigger and want to earn some money. So they spent a good part of the afternoon raking up leaves at $1 a bag. Meanwhile I'm inside trying to fix up a scrap area. A good portion of our basement was dedicated to homeschooling. Now that I'm not doing that anymore I think it's time to make some room for my crafts stuff! I really do love creating things, and it's been so long since I've done it. I figure if I can get my stuff out of the giant heap it was in I may get more opportunities. So, you just might be seeing some craft corner snap shots coming soon. :)

As for the Knees... my poor baby girl! I swear, that little girl's knees will be permanently scabbed till she becomes a teenager! And it always seems to happen at church. Wednesday she fell down in the parking lot and scraped up her knee. Ever since then she's had more falls. While they've been rather small falls, her scab keeps breaking open, making it bleed all over again. Then tonight at church she falls again, this time scraping the other one. And it bleeds, and bleeds, and bleeds and bleeds. The poor girl has two knees all bloodied up.

As for the God things... my Lord is so good. You know, he just blows me away when He decides to show me his Mercy and Grace. Our church is rather small, barely more than a year old. I teach the Sunday School, which is for ages between 6 - 12. We have five kids that are regulars, and two that come and go. So we average six kids, three of them are mine! Anyway, we started a new curriculum today that focuses on the Bible. Along with our studies, we launched a "Change that can change the world." fund campaign. Basically we're asking that people put a few coins in a container. The money we raise will be going to the Wycliff organization to help fund missionaries that are working on getting the Bible Translated into languages that don't have a Bible in their own language. Anyhow, this morning I gave a short presentation to the congregation about it. In one day someone brought in $70 worth of change they've been saving up, and another has told me that they will match what ever funds the children raise! God's just blowing me away. I had set a goal of $200 for the kids. I figured we only have three families represented in our little class, that that was a decent goal. But if we have $140 in one day, man, God has a waaaaaaay bigger goal than I ever could think of.

He also got me up singing worship tonight. I haven't been able to sing with the worship team since we moved buildings last March because I'm the only Sunday School teacher. Tonight when I walked in our worship leader let me know I was singing. lol I just love to sing out to my Lord. It's funny, when I sing regular old songs, my voice isn't all that great. But when I sing from my heart, adoring my Maker, it's just such a sweet song. It felt great to be able to do that.

This coming week will be busy, but I'll be around. :)