praying for layla grace in houston

hi.
there is a little girl (2) in houston who has cancer and is now home with her parents and hospice. Hospice is always brought in to make the days easier as the person gets closer to death. Please pray for Laylagrace. Her sisters claire 3 and jenna 9 are staying with their grandma so they are not home to watch the process their sister is going through. Pray. Thank You.

Hug your children. Pray to God and than Him for their lives, health, purpose He has for them. Hug your spouse and pray for him/her.

God has given us gifts. I have so much to be thankful for. I need to remember that.

Hope you have a great day. God is AWESOME.

"MARCH"ing on towards another month and blogging

hey there.
HEY THERE OUT THERE>>>>>are you there? I kinda don't mind that i don't have 5,235 bloggers reading me. I have God to blog to. (and cathy)

God blog...God you amaze me. You amaze me how you love me. Me broken and a sinner. Sin is not of YOU, it is not from you and you dispise it. It is no fun. Fun is loving and being with you. You complete me. Me, a follower of God who desperately wants to be CRAZY IN LOVE with YOU. You are CRAZY IN LOVE with me, amazing. Amazing Love, how sweet it is...YOUR love for me. Me, it is NOT ABOUT ME..it is about YOU. You gave me this day, what do you want me to do with it? It is a day that i continue to say....everyday is a blessing, every moment a gift. Gift from God....to Betsy Love God. God you are so many unbelievable words, moments to many, Glory...you ARE...GRACE, PEACE, LOVE, JOY, MERCY, DEFEATER of EVIL, UNCONDITIONAL. Unconditional love to me a sinner who is in love with the FORGIVER. Forgiver, i thank you for this day. Day full of grace. Grace is covering me this day.

Okay. did you notice that each sentence started with the word before? that was hard. thought-provoking.

March is here..do you hear it....marching in like a lion to bring the lamb in april...The Lamb of God. Easter is approaching...God's love in full color.

hugs....go hug your kids and your hubby. IMPORTANT.

BLINDSIDE

Hey
I am sorry it has been more than a week since words have been typed. Busy? don't know. (saw Cathy, a friend, and fellow reader...thanks...I write for you!)

Anyway, i finally got to see the movie BLINDSIDE...first i learned why it is called that. It is the offensive players "name" (not official name) who covers the quarterbacks "blindside" when the defensive players are coming at him. cool. Second, I highly recommend you all go see it. Probably most of you have seen it. I want to own it. Wow. It was moving, inspiring, and challenging movie.

I guess i could take the word BLINDSIDE and think of it spiritually. God has my BLINDSIDE. GOD has ALL SIDES of me. Yet, i still don't give him 1/2 of me. I am being blindsided by my own lack of obedience. Disobedience can BLINDSIDE me from seeing/hearing God's voice/will for my life. Sad. I guess that is why I need prayer warriors....to protect me...to keep my BLINDSIDE open to God.

Do you have a BLINDSIDE? I do. I am challenged and humbled to go forward and work on it. I want to be BLINDED by GOD' LIGHT!

Simple Pleasures

Hi.
I saw on a blog someone wrote their "simple pleasures". Those are the things that bring you pleasure but are simple. So what better thing from the "Real Simple" blog to write my "simple pleasures."

My list of Simple Pleasures....(short list)

1. THUNDERSTORMS...i love them so much that i have a thunderstorm on my iPod i listen to when i fall asleep.
2. SOUNDS OF NATURE...there is a wide range of "nature" sounds on my iPod that I listen too...Amazon Rainforest, Rocky Mountain, Whales, Waves to name a few.
3. MY GIRLS...yes, i know they are grown up woman...but I will always refer to them as "my girls".
4. THE SMELL OF GRASS, fresh mowed.
5. SITTING IN THE FRONT YARD WITH RUTHIE, our mini dachsund and watching her nose go wild. smelling. then i get annoyed when she barks at EVERYTHING that walks by!
6. SMELL OF FALL LEAVES. decaying leaves, doesn't sound pleasurable...but the smell.
7. SITTING AT THE BEACH and watching the waves and listening to them.
8. WALKS...walking and praising God's creation. observing all that HE has done.
9. BIG FLUFFY,DOWN COMFORTERS (don't have one) but when i sleep under them..wow.
10. WATCHING THE WIND BLOW PALM TREES, the sound.
11. WATERFALLS, the sound of any water...rain,etc.
12. MY HUSBAND'S unconditional love for me and all my flaws.
13. PRAISE AND WORSHIP MUSIC...to be in the sanctuary all by myself and listening to great worship music and praising my Jesus....


I guess that is it for this moment. I could probably go on and on...but now it is your turn. Simple pleasures....mine are.....

Crazy Love

Hi.
Our church is starting a new "all for one" study. And the book is CRAZY LOVE by Francis Chan. (this would be a great time to insert a picture, don't do that very well). I am very excited about the book. It is radical, challenging, and awakening. I pray it does this to me. I pray it does it for our church. It is time to be more respondent (word?) and respectful of our Amazing God. I think i take Him for granted, I know I do. I am ashamed (broken by) of that.

I wake up every morning and tell Him my prayer request. I thank Him for His provisions in my life. I need to spend more time thanking Him for who He is! Emmanuel. God of the Heavens and the Universe. Take in the creations He made out of love for me.

So I am going to open and read and take notes about Crazy Love. Molly has read it 5 times. It is one of her all time favorite books/author. He has another book i want to read about the Holy Spirit (okay, talk about somethng else I am humbled by...and dissappointed I do not call upon more! the Holy Spirit.)

Okay. Just want to encourage all of us to remember....(out of Crazy Love)
1. Take a long hard look at Him before you speak to Him.
2. Solomon warned us not to rush into God's presence with words.
3. The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him.
4. Through creation we see His "invisible qualities" and "divine nature" (Rom. 1:20)
5. God will not be tolerated...tremble at His very Word.
6. He instructs us to worship and fear Him.
7. Genuinely loving out of our true selves.
8. intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.
9. God is Holy. I am who I am.
10. God remains the same--and His years will never end.

think about this....just points from chapter one.

I shutter at how i have hurt God. I want to change that.

Do you have leaks? Spiritual ones?

Hey there.
Last night brian came into the bedroom and said he had just read this statement."If you are not experiencing true joy, you have leaks in your Christianity"...he said he had some leaks. Do you? Do I? I don't know how to answer that. I feel content (except for that one thing--lbs) I love my family. I love staying at home and purging. Am i filled with joy? I am today, because i am not in Haiti (i wish i could go and help though) and did not go through what those people went through and still are going through. I just cannot imagine. People who went there say it is worse than we see. So i am joyful i have a laptop to write to you about these things. I am joyful i have clothes on my back and just had a bowl of cereal! So do you have leaks...if you do read the below.

I am starting to go into Max Lucado's and Charles Stanley's sites. I read there daily devotionals. Today Max posted on his Twitter..."God pomises "I will instruct you in the way you should go, I will guide you with my eyes." (Ps.32:8) Trust Him, Heed Him, Your are not alone!

On Charles Stanley's...he was talking of the story of Jeosophat (sp). This is part of the devotional: "When God's people humbly call upon His name, He releases awesome power. The bible is packed with stories o His mighty intervention on behalf of those who cry out to Him. He is ready to respond when we bring heavy hearts and deep concerns to Him. Crying out to God and asking Him to work in our ieves requires humility and persistence. Though we are unable to succeed onour own, we frequently try. By allowing us to bring our concerns and desires before Him, Jesus lovingly helps us realize our dependence.

So how dependent are you to Him, or is that why you/we have leaks? Question for the day.

every day is a gift..every moment a blessing

My oh My...it is 2010 and just blogging

(wierd just noticed it was exactly a month from my last blog...so God!)

I know why i don't have a huge following...I am not an "everydayer". (not a word) I don't blog everyday. Who has that kind of time. but I do read some favorite blogs everyday! And you know why...because they are "everydayers" and some of my favorites who are like me and do not do it everyday I still check there blogs (dawn and john).

So what can i tell you in "10" words or less...I love Jesus and His amazing Grace and Mercy, uhhuh! (okay the uhhuh counts as a word!)

What "10" things can i update you on....and you would find interesting!??? The word "purge" is my new word...i still love the word "whimsical"....don't you?

1. PURGING IN THE NEW YEAR.. I am trying to purge my house. i finished my kitchen...took everything out, cleaned the shelves, threw out "dated" spices (you should check yours, it will crack you up!). But then my husband (sweet guy) comes homes and starts going through the goodwill pile and starts taking things out and saying "we should keep this" or "do you think megan would want this?". Geez....but i kept what he wanted. And as far as Megan well...she does not have a place yet so "no" she does not want it.

2. PURGING POUNDS.....trying my darnest to lose some much needed lbs that were gained before and during the holidays! YIKES...it is sooo hard when you get older! I started a "weight training" class at church and still doing aerobics. On my days when those two don't occur, i do Jillian, which is what i still need to do today! before 10 (and it is 8:40). I want one of those body buggs, but trying to justify the cost. I just am an EMOTIONAL EATER! My big thing is NO food after 8. One thing at a time. I just want weight off before Molly's graduation! Prayers!

3. PURGING THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS...wow, college is expensive, esp when your daughters "dream" college is a private, Christian college! But she did get accepted by Southeastern yesterday! YEAH!!! She has a list a mile long (no kidding) of scholarships she has to apply for. Every $1,000 counts! No word on the 19 she has applied for so far...but they usually start letting you know by Feb. GO MOLLY!

4. PURGING THROUGH SCRAPBOOKING...i NEED to start doing Molly's for her Open House! Maybe that will keep me from eating! So I have the pictures separated and ready to go in the book, I just need to clean up the last project i was doing (journal making). I also promised my step dad i would compile a book for him of all his pics of my mom and their trips. Hard when you don't know much about the pictures and NOTHING is written on the back!

5. PURGING ON TO MOLLY's GRADUATION...May 22nd...is around the corner. Planning, planning and more planning. She was named Salutatorian on Tuesday! Wow! This means she has to give a speech at graduation! The time is going way to fast. My house will be even quieter than it is on her "not" homeschool days next year. So we purge forward bathed in prayer!! that is all i can do right now!

6. PURGING THROUGH MEGANS TEACHING YEAR...she is doing GREAT. She is loved by her teachers, getting to know her students, and loves teaching and its challenges! She needs a place of her own (prayers). She has found a church and a Sunday School class of adults her age. Now to hunt for roommie and a place!! We see her atleast twice a month which is a blessing. Ruthie misses her. we miss her!!!!

7. PURGING THROUGH BANKING AND BRIAN...banking is hard work, brian knew that. but did he know the economy would be like this???? no! But he made it through another audit by the gov't. PRAISE GOD! He is doing fine, works hard, very hard. He loves our small group that meets on Thursday. good group of guy pals for him! He is a great dad, husband and provider. He will make it through and Sabal Palm is in God's hands!

8. PURGING THROUGH WHAT IS NEXT FOR ME....when Molly leaves it will be very, very quiet..job? more volunteering? more purging (is that possible)?, I know God has a plan for me (Jer. 29:11)... I am excited about it. I am sure if i get too bored the church will always find me something to do.

9. PURGING THROUGH MY BLOG....I want to blog more. because right now i am having a blast. I love to write things that are on my mind and hope that maybe just "one" thing i say will encourage someone, share Jesus with someone, make someone smile, or just be there for someone. I am glad i can express myself so freely. Whether or not anyone reads this blog is not important. (sorta..ha) I really think it is for me to express my thoughts. so go forward in 2010 and write 51 more blogs or more!

10. PURGING INTO 2010...what do i want to purge from my 2009 life and NOT bring into my 2010 life...my lack of commitment to God and His Word is heavy on my heart! I really want to put Him first in my life and LIVE IT! I want people to ask me "why are you like that?"and my response be "Jesus" it is simple. But life is not always simplier with Jesus, but just BETTER. Better because His way is better. My way leads to extra lbs, His way leads me to freedom. I also want to be a better mom, just really "listen" to my girls. When molly tells me something I have started to STOP what i am doing and give her my full attention and if i cannot i explain it to her. I want to tell my husband everytime he leaves "I love you" and my girls, too!!! I want to HUG him when he comes through the door...to remind him "why he came home". I want to be a better friend and really be there for them. When a friend talks to me I want my focus to be souly on them...not who is walking behind them. (get it)? I have alot of wants....but i feel they are all needs. I am not asking for things to be "bought" but for me to "buy" into others and my life more. So we will see....Pray for me!

Thanks for reading this. Remember today is a gift from God, everyday is a blessing from Him. Every moment is His and I am not to waste it...So go forward...use Him not food to console my soul.

love you guys!!! love my Jesus!