In His hands

I am back online. Yay! I have missed blogging. I am going to try try to log on at least weekly and post some reflections. Earlier this week,my husband was cleaning our yard and found a broken plastic handwith a hole in it.Kindve a weird thing to find in the yard, but whatever. It was very obviously the hand of Christ. His Hand. There is comfort in his hands,there is grace extended, there is healing. There is power.But most importantly and the thing he showed me this week is that his hand and his arm do not fall short.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd I have all that I need(NLT)  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack(Amplified version)

See, Gods word says that he will provide for all our needs. Not  necessarily our wants. His hand does not fall short and every good and perfect gift comes from him. Do you have a need in your life, whether it be financial,spiritual, or physical?Leave that need in his hands and cast all of your cares upon him. There is no better place to leave your needs than in the hands of God.
We have raised our hopes and our cities high


We have followed fragile dreams

But only One could take the measure of our goals

And we've stumbled over the trials of life

And we've wrestled the unseen

But only One can calm the storm inside our souls



In the hands of God we will fall

Rest for the restless, and the weary

Hope for the sinner

In the hands of God we stand tall

Hands that are mighty to deliver

Giving us freedom



When our strength gave way to the weight of guilt

'Til we strained for every breath

Only One could lift our shame and make us well

And when all is finished and we face

The fearsome power of death

Only One has overcome the gates of hell



You're amazing

You're amazing, You are

And we praise You, Lord

For what Your hands have done

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Masterpiece Theatre

 Wow, I have been having mucho computer problems the past month or so, that explains my absence. Time to get some more memory I guess. Oh, and I am never downloading a ton of pictures ever again.......lol.
    So, we are one book report away and half a lapbook from being "done" with school this year. As a homeschooling family, I dont think we are ever done,but from here on out it will be very minimal for awhile.Lots of stuff going on.
     I didnt get my license. I am going to give myself until the end of the summer. Getting practice time in is hard when you have to have a licensed operator in the front seat, and the only licensed operator  I can drive with is gone most of the time. I didnt realize how difficult parralel parking would be(maybe it was just me). Lessons learned:Dont practice driving with a child in the car. Especially when the child in question is yelling things like "we are gonna die",etc. lol.
     I got to go on vacation on my birthday and it was by far the most fantabulous family vacation we have ever been on. The cheapest too, at only right around 300 dollars. It was such a wonderful thing to wake up on my birthday morning to see the mountains in close view.Theres nothing better than experiencing Gods creation first hand. Its like looking at a huge giant painting.A Masterpiece that was created for us to enjoy. I will post a pic when I get my other modem back.Words certainly cannot describe it. We went hiking as a family, and it was a very challenging experience.  At the national park we were at, thats pretty much all there was to do. There were several options, an 11 mile hike, 8 mile, or 4 mile. Of course we went with the 4 mile one....lol, but it turned out to be the most difficult. Its wasnt called devils hall for nothing....lol. I think they call it that because of how you feel afterward....lol. It felt pretty good though to ber able to finish it, and then later see these "young" teenagers, come back from the trail unfinished gasping for breath. yeah, I still got it  =) Later on as we were leaving, we found out the trail we went on was also the most popular one for the mountain lions. Isnt that special.....lol. We also ventured out to New Mexico(never been) to visit family, but our trip was cut short by forrest fires and a really bad, bad accident.Seeing stuff like that really makes a person want to drive, let me tell ya =(
I dont want to make this super long, so I wont. Have soo much more to say, but I will save it for another day.............

The big 3-0..........

 So, in just 2 short weeks I will be entering a new chapter of my life. The big 30. I havent quite decided what i want to do, but I do know I want to get away for a few days, perhaps on a camping trip. I would like to do some photography somewhere,you know, just have some time with God and nature. That would be sweet. I have mixed emotions about this new chapter in my life. Trying to focus on how far i have come and not on the things I havent yet accomplished. I am looking forward  to what this age holds and saying goodbye to my 20s.I would never go back, and I know everything up until this point has prepared me for the future............I have got a ways to go,but I never want to forget how far I have come.I am not getting another year older, I am getting another year to experience life and all that is has for me, another year to gain wisdom and to learn. i think I now know what the term another year wiser means.
  So, be looking for pics in the next few weeks of my birthday adventure,wherever it may be.........

The role of Mommy

Wow, it has been a week. Here we are, on the downhome stretch to finishing school for the year, and out of the blue M gets sick. I am not complaining, in fact it was actually a blessing. Now, thats the wonderful thing about homeschool, I didnt have to worry about make up work(theoretically speaking), no doctors notes,etc.It has been a stressful past few weeks for us,with trying to get done,etc.When i get too busy, I tend to look at the things God has meant to be a blessing in my life,and look at it as stress or an extra thing to do on my "to do" list. Check, there you go. Whats next? I think sometimes God allows certain things to happen so we wont do just that. This week, M and I got some much needed downtime. Bless her heart, she hasnt been this sick in 4 years or more(which I am very thankful for). Shes better now. My husbands job doesnt offer insurance, and we dont qualify for certain assistance,so we dont go to the doctor alot, unless it is an ER visit. Well because she got sick this week, we happened to stumble upon a clinic that could get her set up with some sort of coverage. Not only did she get coverage, but we were able to get it as well(its only good for certain clinics, but hey, its better than nothing).
   So, today she is on the mend(she is on like three antibiotics,which Im a little  nervous about), and she is even cleaning her room.Yay =)
   This weekend, it being Mothers day, I am reminded that there is no other role as important as being a mother(and a wife).Its weeks like this one that make me thankful for my own mom and everything she has done for me. I am a parent,cook, housekeeper,refe, teacher, nurse,maid, security,supervisor, nutritionist, caretaker, personal assistant,life coach, laundry maid, dishwasher,and motivational speaker. I dont get holiday pay, am on call 24 hours a day.7 days a week. Dont get sick days or days off. Now, whose job is more important than that? Happy Mothers day to all of the wonderful moms out there. Hope you have a great one, you deserve it.

Making a Switcheroo

I have been having a host of computer problems this year, so I havent had much time to devote to my blogs as i would like. I currently have three, a homeschooling one, a cooking one, and this one.Well, I am getting rid of two of them, and just keeping this one. So, its going to be a little bit of everything, but mainly homeschooling , since that is what I seem to blog about most. I dont think i have mentioned it much on this one thus far so i am going to copy posts from my other blog onto this one to keep my readers up to speed. I really hope you enjoy it, and its always encouraging to me when readers post comments. Who knows, I may even post a giveaway or two.............
  

Please help Riley

This story really touched me, because I lost a cousin of mine(6 years old) to cancer earlier this year, and this little girl is the same age as my daughter

Riley Philpot is a 9 year old that is being sent home with leukemia, the doctors can't do anything else for her. She lives in Winterville, NC and according to the doctors, she has run out of options. Her one wish from Make a Wish Foundation she asked for LOTS of letters/pictures to be sent to her home that she could read/look at. If you would like to be a part of this effort, please send Riley a get well card to the address below. She has been battling cancer since 2006 and went into remission, but the cancer has since come back and there is nothing more they can do. I think it would be SO wonderful if any of my friends from other areas would help out, even if it's just a quick card in the mail. Also, if you have friends and/or neighbors that would like to be involved in this effort, please pass this along to them too. Here's the mailing address:

Riley Philpot

206 Slaney Loop Rd.

Winterville, NC 28590

All it takes is a Get Well Card and it will make a little girl feel good about her life. That is something that we all can do for little girl.

You can view her website by clicking here.

My Happy List

We have been going through alot of crap here recently. No other way to describe it. Mostly financial stuff. So, today I thought it would be fun to make a list of things that make me happy................things that really dont involve money(well, most of them) so here we go:

1. late night Netflix movies with my family
2. the sounds of my daughter playing
3. listening to it
4. writing music
5. performing music
6. playing my piano
7. SWAP-BOT
8. making things
9. journaling/blogging
10. taking pictures
11. going to church
    
12. dancing in the rain
13. laughter(its contagious)
14. the beach
15. listening to my daughter play piano and sing
16. Freecycle
17. learning about other countries and cultures
18. receiving things from other countries
19. compliments
20. a good hair day
21. cool weather
22. warm weather(the sunbathing kind)
23. a good book(although I havent read many lately)
24. positive TV shows like the Biggest Loser
25. making a nice meal for my family that wasnt taken out of a box somewhere
26. SUSHI
27. The Dallas Cowboys(even though I really dont care for Romo)
28. The Texas Longhorns.....hook em baby!
29. the look of a clean house(dont get to experience this too much.....lol)
30. a good cup of Starbucks

So, thats it. Now time for you to go make your happy list. I hope you have fun.