OK so I just learned to put a slide show on my blog....can you tell??? Of course the first is from our beach trip last month. The next is from our newest tradition started by Kim. I call it "An afternoon with the Gingerbread Man!". It was lots of fun. It was interesting to see the kid's creativity in their own gingerbread man. Of course, Laura did an excellent job with the reading, and Kim lead the troops on a wild goose chase across the street when the gingerbread man escaped from our oven! Too bad there's no picture of the ladies huffing and puffing and sweating after the chase. Luckily Kim managed to kick off her 4 inch heels as she was running out the door! Great fun!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Quote

I read my email from Quin and felt I needed to add this quote to my earlier post.

"Blessings at times come to us through our labors and at times without our labors, but never because of our labors. For God always gives them because of His undeserved mercy." -Martin Luther

5 year old and faith

I was sitting with Landy yesterday while she was diligently cutting and gluing, obviously in deep thought(she sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating really hard), when she asked me another question about heaven. She asks questions about God and heaven ALL the time! I guess most kids are very inquisitive at this age. So I ask her the question I have asked many times, "How do we get to heaven?", and she said, "By being good".

AAAAAAAA!!!!!! "No, no, no, no, no NO!", I said a bit frustrated with a hint of HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS! So, again I explained to her that it was by faith alone. As I was talking to her I was thinking about our Sunday School class this week. Our class full of adults was being reminded of this same thing. Of how we are saved by the gospel, and then we somehow think that the law is something that we must uphold daily to keep our salvation.

I have felt that many times God is saying to me, "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS!". Why can't I get it? He has not only attained our perfection but atoned for our imperfection. I need to remind myself of this more. It seems that the past few months God has been teaching this to me repetitively. As I need to with Landy.

I am thankful she has a slight grasp on it. I was able to use something she said as an example for her yesterday. Last week Carson had gotten her scissors and was cutting in one of her school books. I ran in very frustrated and took the scissors away. Landy looked at him and said, "Carson, Mama should spank you right now, but I think she's gonna have mercy on you!". Hallelujah! She is learning something! Maybe I'll learn from her!

Whew! I had a yard sale today. For some reason, I enjoy having yard sales. Although after about an hour of it, I'm ready to be done! I vowed today...no more yard sales for at least 2 years! I have had two in the last 6 months. So that should satisfy my yard sale obsession for a while. We've been in our new house since January, and we just finished unpacking everything in the basement. How does one acquire so much stuff? It is really unbelievable. I really enjoy shopping yard sales too. Which is probably the answer to how I acquire so much stuff.
Landy had a lemonade stand along with my sale. You all know Landy so you can image who was actually selling the lemonade. ME! Anyway, she thinks she did it. She did mange to tell a few people thank you.
I did find lots and lots of t-shirts and sweatshirts left over from my monogramming shop. So I'm trying to think of something neat to have monogrammed on them and sell them at our Christmas Bazaar as a fund raiser for the Women's and Children's ministries! I'm excited about what Crissy is planning! She has lots of great ideas.
Well, this was just one of the "Days of our Uninteresting Lives".
It was fun and somewhat productive, which makes for a good Saturday!

My seven

My Seven

1) I love thrift stores and yard sales and would shop there even if I had a million dollars!

2) I was in lots of skits in college and would love to be in local theater.

3) I was obsessed with Michael Jackson as a young girl and cried when his hair caught on fire in the taping of the Coke commercial.

4) I am a distant cousin to Jim Nabors ( GOMER PYLE ) "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"

5) Josh and I went to kindergarten together and didn't know it until we met again when we were 17 and ran across an old newspaper article with our picture in it.

6) I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain, I'm not much in to yoga, I am in to champagne..............(not gonna comment on the rest) My brain chooses to remember the words to many, many, many songs. But I have a horrible, horrible memory when it comes to anything else!!

7) I was engaged to someone else in college, and honestly, the first thought that I had after putting the ring on my finger was, " Oh, poor Josh. This is going to hurt him really bad." Needless to say, that engagement didn't last! Thank God for that one!!

I'm so glad to be back in Wed. night class. I taking "Disciplining by Grace" ....again. The homework for this week is to completely, 100%, TRY not to 1) boast about anything 2) defend or excuse yourself NO matter what 3) gossip or run someone down, not even a little bit.
You know, it is easy to think, " Well, I don't go around bragging, or talking about other people! This can't be that hard." Wow. I actually caught myself on the phone, on the way home from class, biting my tongue! I don't intentionally boast, but I was totally about to say something that would have made me sound "good" for saying it! I'm sure the person I was talking to would never have thought of it as boasting, however, I know my own heart. YUCK! Thank God for His grace!! That is why I love this class. It has taught me so much about grace. I remember being involved with a certain group in college. It is a good organization, but for me, at that time, it did nothing but leave me with a constant guilt of not being good enough! We didn't talk a whole lot about grace then. It was more just watching how you "behaved" in front of others at parties, etc. That was a lot of pressure. I eventually said, "Forget it. I can never be as good as all these other people!". I am so thankful to be in my church. To have people who know the grace of God is real, and we are nothing but filthy sinners. It definitely takes the pressure off. And the more I see of my sin. The more I appreciate the cross!
(I also had to stop myself from typing a sentence in this blog! I was going to give an excuse for why I am taking this class ....again! Uh huh, this is going to be a tough week for me!!)
But I am definitely glad to get back in the swing of the Fall schedule. Although it isn't quite Fall yet, school is going much better than I could have anticipated, Auburn football begins Saturday, and it has actually cooled down to below 100 degrees! Yea!!

I've attending two funerals this week. Funerals are no fun. One of Josh's bosses died over the weekend. He was 80. I didn't know him that well, but still funerals are sad. He was Greek Orthodox. Don't know too much about their beliefs, but I know from attending the wake, they are very ritualistic. They seem to do a lot to "honor" the dead. Which isn't altogether a bad thing, but.........as cold as it sounds..........they are dead. The second funeral was for my mother's cousin, whom I knew a little better. He was 81. He was a believer. He was diagnosed with lung cancer about 6 wks ago. He was still in relatively good health for having lung cancer, but the chemo wasn't doing what they had hoped. He told his daughter Monday that he was ready to die. He passed away Monday night. Peacefully. Ready to go "home". His funeral was a worship ceremony. But his poor wife, who has alzheimer's was so sad. She can't remember that he has died and relived the initial pain several times. Now she is just being told that he has "gone to run errands and will be back soon". It makes me long for heaven! When there will be no more sadness like we experience in this fallen world! Landy asks me all the time..."Mama, will we bleed in heaven?....Mama, what if I hit my head in heaven, will it hurt?.......Mama, will I need bandaids in heaven?" As I explain to her what heaven will be like, she has a look of awe on her face. "Wow!! That's gonna be neat". You know, it is gonna be neat. I don't long for heaven like I should. I don't long for my savior like I should. That is my prayer today!

Noticing a new talent

I have realized that I think my life may be even more uninteresting than I previously thought. Or maybe it is just that I lack the ability to make everyday life seem interesting. That's why I love hanging out with my friends and listening to their funny stories. Although they are just everyday life stories, some have this "talent" that they like to refer to as "verbal diareah". I have to say, I don't see this as being the horrible disease they see it as. It truly is a talent! OK so maybe you say some things you might regret sometimes....you are the life of the party!
I had so much fun hanging out at Jessica's house last week. Having time to just talk to other women is so important. I think women need this way more than men. (Why is that??? What do men really talk about when they get together? It CAN'T be the same things we talk about.)
I absolutly love hearing all the funny stories and learning more about my friends. I'm glad Kim and Crissy have verbal diareah. (I would love to start a tally on how many times that phrase is used!!!) I'm glad we all feel so comfortable around each other that we share stories the way we do. (notice I say "we" although ya'll didn't come away with too much dirt on me) Maybe I didn't eat enough chocolate to loosen my tongue. Well, I'm pretty sure I did. I think I just don't have the God given talent of "verbal diareah". From now on....I do not want anyone to refer to this as a disease.......how could I be jeolous of someone with a disease.....it is definitly a talent, and sometimes, a lot of times, I wish I had more of it!