Thanks for Everything, Even the Bad Stuff....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oops, I am a little bit late, aren't I?

Anyway... I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We did. The Bug and Boo behaved (that almost sounds like a tongue twister), and no one ate so much that they got sick. Anytime it does not involve a trip to the emergency room, it is a good day.

What did YOU have to be thankful for this year?

We have many things in my family to be thankful for: people that needed jobs now have them, cancer has been fought, specialists for other ailments have been sought out, we have a loving family and church family that are very supportive of us, and our children are in good health.

But...

Come on, you knew there would be a big "but" coming sooner or later...

Sometimes it is hard for us to see and focus on the positive aspects of our lives, especially when there are still negative things going on. It is kind of like that old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". In our lives sometimes negative things seem to far out squeak the positive, and what we focus on becomes our outlook and attitude.

But listen to this, I am not telling you to focus on the positive instead of the negative, although I do firmly believe sometimes that helps immensely. In fact, I am telling you to praise God and thank him through everything, including the dark times.

Let us turn to exhibit A, um, I think I have been watching too many cop shows on TV lately. Or you can just listen to "Blessed be your name" by Matt Redman, or Bug's favorite, Veggietales.

Job 1:21  "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.   The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, may the name of the LORD be praised."

In case you do not know the back story, Job had just been told over a matter of minutes that he had lost all of his animals (his lively hood, his source of income), his servants, and the last one, all of his children. At the same time.

After hearing all of this, Job had the courage and strength of character in that although he was grieving immensely, he was able to praise and thank God for what he had and the time he had it.

Do we possess this character? Let us put it all into perspective. I am not saying that we are not allowed to be sad or grieve, I just do not want us to take our eyes off of the eternal. God gives us everything. And sometimes, for whatever reasons, he takes them away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today is a day that we try to set aside as a country to remember and honor those who have, and continue to, serve in our military to help make and keep this country what it has become today. No matter how many things our country does that are right or wrong, we must admit there are not many other places that we would have as many rights as we do here. We even have the right to complain when we do not like something, which is something many in other countries do not!

I would like to say a special thanks to anyone who served in active duty and was away from their homes and families. I do not think I could do it, but I do thank God that there are people out there who can, and do, for all of us. Words can not express the real thanks that we owe all of you.

I would also like to thank everyone else in the military. Whether you were called to serve in action or not, you were always trained to be ready, just in case, and ever vigilant. Thank you, as well.

Big thanks to both my Dad and Granddaddy, who both served in the military until they retired.

Let us all remember that today is not just about getting a day off of work, but remembering those who will fight for us, no matter what the cost.

A Long Time Coming!

Hello all you happy people!!

Long time, huh?

Guess what happened? Life, that is what happened. I do not mean in a bad way, either. Actually, the majority of my absence was actually a really good time for my family and I. My husband did get a job, we actually moved back closer to our family, and things really seemed to be looking up.

Anyone notice that the word "seemed" was in the past tense in that last paragraph?

Here we are, close to a year to the date of my last post, and this time neither the hubby nor I have a job. However, that is and easy fix and will be done soon. Granted, maybe not what we would love to do for the rest of our lives, but enough to pay the bills and that is the part that is important. Our long bout with unemployment last year did teach us a thing or two about the power of stretching a dollar, being happy with what you do have, and keeping faith that it will work out and not getting depressed.

Many in the family (mine and his) have been sick, anything from pneumonia to bone cancer. Good news- at the moment treatments are finished and we are all praying that the worst is now over.

For everything bad, there was always something good. So why did I stop writing?

It is confession time. No, nothing that I will have to go to jail for, I am not THAT crazy, but still there is something that I need to say. Somewhere along the line last year I stopped having my daily time with Christ. I kept my faith, and attended church regularly, but I stopped my daily nurturing of the relationship that I had with Christ. That is the real reason I believe that I stopped updating, God was not telling me anything because I was not listening to him.

Slowly I have felt my spirit moving, and not in the right direction. Or maybe it would make more sense to say that my spirit has been stagnant... not going backwards, but not moving forwards either. After finally figuring out what i was doing wrong, or in this case not doing right, it is now time for me to get back on track!

My dear little soon to be accountability partners, here is what I intend to do to get back on track. I am good with study groups and books, but I have never quite got the hand of self study without them to guide me. I know nothing of the ancient languages, or enough about the cultures, and a lot of times you need that background info to really dissect passages and get everything out of them that you can.

I can, however, read Proverbs!

So beginning tonight (mainly because, let's face it, if I put it off until "tomorrow" it will never happen) I will begin reading the Proverbs before I go to bed. The cool thing about Proverbs is that they are not really that long, and there are 31 of them, one for each day. Since today is the 20th, I will read chapter 20 tonight.

This will not be the extent of my studies. I have always felt my absolute best when I was deep in a study of God's word, and have just recently realized how I feel my life has been floundering around since I stopped daily searching God's word. But this is my step in the right direction.

Anyone want to take this step with me?