I must be CRAZY!!!

I've decided to sign up to run a 5K. 

I have never run before.......... YES, I am crazy.

Just joined a gym, downloaded the couch to 5K app on my phone and  here I go....

   God is wanting me to go for something I can definitely not do on my own strength!  I need HIM!

I will need your prayers as I embark on this journey........

A Day...No Distractions..Me...God...Bible...Books...and a Computer!!!

Sounds incredible, huh????

That is just what I have today.  My husband and I are in Chicago on a business trip for his company.  He is gone all day and I have to get to stay in a hotel all by myself.

Although, I originally wanted to stay home and paint my dining room (That would have been awesome as well).  This is where I am spending my day...



Don't be Jealous, this will probably NEVER happen again!!! 

Thanks to my good friend, Jennette, for encouraging me to leave and being willing to help with my kids!!!

I'm thinking I need this day of refreshment, to spend time with my Savior!



Oh, by the way, David's work pays for this trip... but we booked it, and I think it is pretty awesome that we got this suite for $55/night thanks to priceline - name your own price!!!  It even has a full kitchen! 

What's a Girl to Do without a COMPUTER?!?!?!

I don't know how we survive in this day and age without computers or internet....but I have for the past month!!

Ok, not totally - since I sit on computer all day at work and I have a smart phone that I am able to access most everything on.....but I have been unable to blog.

Here's the short, uninteresting story...

Our modem went bad....
      We thought it was our laptop giving us issues.....
             My tech savvy hubby thought he'd do a factory reset on our laptop.....
                 Windows wouldn't reload......
                        Found out their is a lawsuit out on our computer because when you do a reset -  
                        windows crashes (go figure :))........
                               Then we found out it was our modem and not our computer...

Now no internet or computer!!!

We have AT&T coming out next week, hooking us up with a new fancy shmancy modem and super fast internet.  Hopefully by then the computer will be fixed as well.

BUT.....for now I'm back to blogging thanks to a day with no distractions, a computer and internet!!!!

                               

I love my family!!!!

As much as I adore the incredible man and the four beautiful children that live in my house, that is not the family I am writing about today.

I'm talking about the community of believers (of Christ) I have the privilege of sharing LIFE with.

On Sunday, our pastor spoke on Ephesians 3, and the importance of being in community.

Eph 3 :17-19 says

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

He explained that we can hear about Christs love, but it is with other believers that we are able to experience the depth of his love

Hearing this was such an encouragement to me.  Although we go to a large church, David and I are involved in a smaller community.  Our "family"  had just had an incredible night laughing and having fun with one another, and after this message, we had an incredible time of prayer for one another.

What about you??? 

             Do you belong to a community of believers where you can experience the vast love of Christ?  If not, let me encourage you today to find a church, a Sunday school class or a small group to join! 

I'm sure this experience only begins to scratch the surface of Christ's love for us, but oh how sweet of a taste it is!



Relaxing Christmas?

Did you have a relaxing Christmas?  Were you able to focus on Christ?

I wish I could say that I did, but that is simply not the case.  My Christmas was highly stressful!  I stayed up till 6am Christmas morning and have been trying to catch up since then!

Yesterday, during my brief quiet time, I read that I need to depend on Christ's strength and trust him in every situation.  Living this way I will do less but accomplish more! 

That was just what I needed! 

His strength is made perfect in my weakness!  So, why do I constantly try to rely on myself? 

God forgive me for relying on myself...help me to rely on your strength to get through this day....Amen.



Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

Dining Room...All Ready for Christmas Dinner!

I finally got the dining room decorated for Christmas!

I went ahead and set up for dinner as well.  I am hosting my family this year...there will be 15 of us in all.

Here is my table all ready to go:



My epsom salt centerpiece I made:



...and the decorations on the piano





I really wanted to paint my walls red before Christmas, but I did not get to it.  Wouldn't that look good with all the white and silver decorations?  Maybe it will be done for next year!

Is Christmas coming fast for you?  Are you able to do everything you were hoping for?  Not me!  It is easy for me to get bogged down in everything that has to be done that I forget to take a moment to

PAUSE......

and remember the Reason for this Busy Season!

Baking Christmas Cookies!!!

I don't know where this Christmas season has gone...but it has gone way too fast. The kids reminded me earlier this week that we hadn't made Christmas cookies yet this year. So one night we decided to make a mess of the kitchen and bake and decorate sugar cookies - one of our favorites :)! You can see how messy this was! I still have plans for making more kinds, but since we are just a few days from Christmas, we will see. These are times when I wished I could be home with my kids, but I have to remember that God has something different for me!