555 Deal

Working full time, moving, adjusting to a new school, Upward basketball, Bible Quizzing, Children's Praise team, guitar lessons, dance lessons, and trying to find family and personal time has been challenging for our family. Trying to balance and succeed at all these things are more than I can handle right now. I need a break and it is evident by ways I have been responding to my friends and family. A few weeks ago our pastor preached on how as a Christian we have an enemy that is wanting to attack us and lately I sure do feel like his prey and have been devoured. After my wounds have healed I will pick up my weapons that I dropped (my bible reading, prayer, and devotions) and will get back into the battle. But first I am taking a break. This weekend is the first weekend in about 3 months or more that we have NOTHING planned and nowhere we have to go. I am keeping it that way. We get to stay home, clean, organize, menu plan, go grocery shopping, and relax. I didn't realize how much I do enjoy these things.

As a family we have decided to make some changes in our lives and have revisited our priorities. I'm learning that with working full time now outside of the home that I can't do all the things that I used to be able to do. God has to come first in my life, then family, then church and other activities. Lately I have been putting church and others things first in my life and that is what I need to change.

Last week my Sunday School teacher presented us with a 15 minute challenge. The challenge was to make an effort this week to spend (at a minimum):

5 minutes listening to GOD (Reading his Word),
5 minutes talking to GOD (Praying), and
5 minutes reading some type of devotional material

We are then to report back of how spending 15 minutes a day with God has made a difference in our week. I have to admit I did not succeed at this for the whole week. However, I am starting this today. I believe one reason why Satan has been devouring me lately is because I have not been spending time with God and getting the power & strength I need from Him. I can't win this battle on my own. I have to do it with the power of the Holy Spirit! Starting today I am accepting this 555 deal. So how about you? Are you ready for a good deal?

Until Later,

~Betty~

My Week in Review

Because I want to get back to start posting more regularly, I am going to start "My Week in Review." This will be my weekly post (on Sunday or Monday) updating and informing about my previous week. I want to do this as a way to let people know what is happening in our lives and as a way to journal, document, and remember the events in our lives as my girls grow up. So feel welcome to join me and leave a comment letting me know you were here.

This past week has been busy which has been a normal thing lately.

Our local Salvation Army has a conservatory program which offers dance classes, music classes, and drama classes. On Tuesday evenings John & I teach 2 drama classes, Bethany is taking a guitar class and Jody is taking a dance class. Therefore, every Tuesday is busy. This past Tuesday we signed papers and put our house on the market and am hoping to sell it quickly. The realtor came to the house and put the sign in the yard on Wednesday. We have talked to the girls about moving and they have been with us looking at other places to live, but this week has been an emotional roller coaster ride with them about selling the house. Apparently it has been a topic of discussion at the bus stop and neighbors have been asking them questions about us moving. In one moment the girls are excited about moving and then in the next they remember something they like and decide they don't want to move. I have just been listening to them and letting them express whatever they are feeling at the time. I am also reassuring them that it doesn't matter where we live, the important thing is we will all be together and we are still a family.





On Wednesday the girls got inducted in to the Caravan program, which is a Christian scouting program sponsored by our church.





This past weekend our family was able to go see High School Musical on ice. If you read this post you will remember Bethany won these tickets back in March. Our family rode the Marta into Atlanta and enjoyed the show together. We had AWESOME seats. We were in the second row from the floor. It was a good family time and the girls were excited and sang along with most of the songs. The girls & I really enjoyed the first and second movie, therefore it was not the same seeing the show with different actors. Although it was cool to see the skaters and I didn't point it out to the girls, therefore they seemed to really enjoy it.

Later that night we invited our friends over for a Mexican dinner and a movie night. We have this group of friends that when we get together we have a theme dinner - which we women all cook together and the guys watch a really bad scifi B movie. As always it was a good time. Since we are trying to sell our house we thought this might be one of the last times we will be able to have this type of party in our current house. The thought of going down to Atlanta in the morning and then hosting this party that evening was stress full, but it all worked out. I have become very comfortable with this group of friends, because my philosophy was whatever wasn't done when they got there we would do together. The other ladies came as unprepared as I was and we all just enjoyed each others company anyway.

Well this has been a look into my past week. I hope to post weekly about my everyday activities.

Until Later,
~Betty~

Bits of Everything

This sure has been a busy month since the last time I posted. I will try to catch up on some of the things that have happen and some things that have not happened!

Jody turned 6 earlier this month. She was so excited!!!! We celebrated her birthday at a local park and invited our friends to join us for a time of play, cake, and ice cream. The kids played and the adults were able to visit with each other. We all seemed to have a good time. I am so thankful for the friends I have. They have been such a blessing to me.

Jody is enjoying school so far and loves to ride the bus with her big sis. She seems to have an inner excitement about school. She has been bringing site words home to study and she gets so proud of herself when she can tell you how to spell them.

Bethany had her first Bible quiz meet of the year. She did pretty good. Along with answering questions the kids have to memorize 20 Bible verses they have to say by the end of the year. Bethany has already said 7 of them. She does good at memorization. I was proud of her.

Bethany still struggles with talking at school. Every week in her weekly Friday folder, she gets a check for needs to control talking. Actually she did have one week with no checks and she got to be student of the week. She was so excited and we were proud. When report cards came out, she did really well. The book work Bethany does at school is really good. We just have to get her to learn how to control her talking. :)

John's job has been very stressful lately, because they have been getting ready for their federal review. At last, the review is now over and he is able to relax a little more. The past couple of weeks God has been reminding me of what a great husband I have and I am so thankful he is my bestfriend and glad he is in my life.

Right now I am working two part time jobs and not making the money I need to be making. I am back working at a local college book store and at a local gym in the childcare area. I am still looking for one full time job!!!! I have sent out many resumes and applyed for many jobs. I have had 3 interviews and did not get any of those jobs. During these dissappointments I have been frustrated, discouraged, and angry. However, I have also came to the point of trusting God even when I don't understand.

I believe God could open the right door and provide a job for me.
I believe He has a plan for me and wants to provide good things.
I believe He can do more than I can think or imagine.
I belive God will provide for me.
I believe God loves me.
I believe God is in control.
I believe God's timing is the best.

God has brought me to stand on each of these statements by faith. During this time in my life I have doubted my faith more than any other time in my life. I don't know God's plan or why certain things are happening, but I have come to the point in my faith that I CHOOSE to trust God and believe that His word is true. I have had to DECIDE to believe these statements I just wrote. I have been so discourageda and frustrated about not finding a job and it taking so long, but I choose to trust Christ and His plan - even if I don't yet know what that is. The past couple of weeks I have just given my search over to the Lord and decided to trust that when God wants me to have a job, He will provide it. Until then I am looking for other ways in my life that God is blessing me - and I am finding them! I don't know why God has not blessed me with a job, but I am blessed in a lot of other ways. He has been showing me His love in so many other ways. I see God's blessing in my marriage. I could not imagine going through this time without John. Some of the decisions that we have had to make could have caused a division in our spirit and cause problems, but we have been in unity with our decisions. Our marriage is surviving a very stressful time in our lives and that is a blessing from God that I am glad I have. I have some wonderful friends that God has showed me His love through them. I have a wonderful church family that loves and supports us. As God is teaching me to trust Him for a job and with our finances, He is also showing me His love.

This is just some of the lessons God is teaching me. I hope to find the time to share more soon. I also hope to be back and share that I have found a job, but that is up to the Lord.

Until Later
~Betty~

Are You Where God Wants You to Be?

My journey continues. I still do not know what God is doing in my life. I saw a church sign that said:


"In life, are you where God wants you to be?"

My response is I sure hope not! I don't know what God is doing in my life or what He is trying to teach me. I know I can not stay where I currently am. Maybe I'm just in His waiting room. As you know, the big thing going on in my life right now is trying to find a job. I have been working temporarily part time at a college book store, well it is no longer temporary. I no longer work there. They are now heading into their slow time and don't need me any more. I'm asking God, now what? I am still waiting for his response. I don't understand why it is taking so long to find a job. Our finances can not handle much more time off. I have been looking back at some of our decisions and wondering if I made the right decisions or not. Maybe I shouldn't try to second guess myself, but I don't know what else to do. As I reflect back on some of the decisions that we have made, at the time we made the decisions I don't think that we acted out of God's will or disobeyed Him. I remember praying that "Lord if this is not what you want for us then don't let the doors open." I think when we made certain decisions we took the information and knowledge we had at the time and did what we thought was best at the time. It's so easy to beat myself up and think I did something so wrong to be struggling like we are. Maybe I shouldn't be blaming myself, but I don't know what else to think or what else to do. I have also been thinking about what I can do differently. I have been praying that God will give me wisdom, knowledge, and new ideas to try. I am still waiting! I am really struggling with my faith right now and praying that God will come through for me. Deep down, I know He will! I'm just waiting for His blessings and asking Him to get me out of this situation that I'm in right now.

I know my posts lately have not been upbeat or encouraging, but I am just expressing where I am right now. I don't plan to stay in this mode, but believe me when I say that I have been praying and trying to see God's hand and His plan in everything that is happening in our lives lately. I just feel down and am using this blog to express my feelings and thoughts. I don't mean to be discouraging or down, but I'm just sharing my journey right now and what I'm currently dealing with. I shared with my best friend, Pat, today that I know this time will pass, but until then I'm struggling and feel like a big storm cloud is following me everywhere I go.

In my quiet time and at church, as an act of my will, not feelings, I have been praising the Lord in spite of my circumstances and how I'm feeling. Pat encouraged me today as an act of my will to not doubt the Lord and trust that He will come through for my family. This is my challenge for the week. I will let you know how it goes and what the Lord does for us.

Until Later,
~Betty~

Not Plan A, or B, but Plan C!

It started out as a normal Sunday morning. Everyone getting up late, rushing around, girls fighting and trying to get out the door to arrive at church early – NOT! In order to throw us off and think we have entered a different world our Sunday morning was calm, which is not normal. The girls woke up to get dress and helped each other and did not fight with each other or with John & me. I had time to cook dinner and put it in the crock pot for after church. In the meanwhile John was packing extra clothes for after church. Apparently, we did not communicate about our plans for after church – which never ever ever happens in any marriage :). I mean how dare him not to read my mind and know that I was planning on coming home after church and not sticking around all day at church and wait for the evening class we are taking. (Plan A) Why would it be important for me to “use my words” (as I tell my kids) and tell him? I’m appalled! lol :) Our first 1 – 2 years of marriage it seemed like all our fights I mean discussions always had the phase “I am not a mind reader.” I have gotten better after 11 years, but occasionally I slip and now we have learned to laugh at each other and instead of having “discussions” about it we make jokes about it.

You see we live 25 miles away from the church that we attend and it takes about 30 -35 minutes one way to get to church. So when we go to church in the morning and have to be back in the evening we don’t always go all the way home. There has been children’s quiz practice in the afternoon so we have stayed for that. Now quizzing is over for the year and we have more time off on Sunday afternoons. That is why I was thinking it would be nice to come home after church for a few hours. Apparently, that’s not what John was thinking.

Well, when we did end up communicating about our plans and since I started dinner and he had packed clothes to change we decided to take our meal to church and we would go over to our friend, Caryl’s, house (who lives closer to our church) and combine meals. (Plan B) Now Caryl & I have been friends since childhood and I would feel comfortable to invade I mean “invite myself and family” over to her house at the last minute. This is my friend that last Sunday I took the freedom and invited myself and family over to her house when she & her family were out of town. A little to my credit, the night before on the phone she did mention that she was thinking about inviting us over so we didn’t have to come all the way home and then go back to church. I also want to mention that I would not take this kind of freedom in every friendship that I have.

Okay back to our Sunday plans. We get to church, plugged in the crock pot, got a snack from our café area, sign our children into their classrooms and were getting ready to go into worship service.

Then plan C started to happen. Bethany’s Sunday school teacher, who is also a nurse, brought Bethany to us and said she had pink eye and could not stay around the other children. John (sigh) looks at me and says I knew we should have just stayed in bed this morning. As a mom, I felt embarrassed that I brought my daughter to church with pink eye. Therefore, we left church and went to Wal-mart to see what kind of medicine we could find over the counter and then we were going home for the afternoon. We talked to the pharmacist and he recommended us not to buy something over the counter and to call our doctor and see if he would just call in a prescription. Not knowing what to expect since it was a Sunday, I called. To my surprise the doctor’s office had a doctor on call and they did just call in a prescription and we just had to pick it up and because of our insurance it didn’t cost us anything.

Although we missed church and spent the time at Wal-mart we were home for a calm & relaxing afternoon at home. I even got to watch some of the Daytona 500 and called my niece to pick on her about her favorite driver, who is different than mind, before I went back to church for our class.

Now only if every Sunday was like this just minus the pink eye and the trip to Wal-mart.

Until Later,
Betty

Upward Sports

My children are not in a lot of activities such as sports, dance, music lessons, and ect. We basically have them involved in church activities - Caravan(Christian Scouting), Bible Quizzing, and Praise team - stick ministry & puppets. My reasons for not doing the other activities are not because I have anything against them, I just choose those things that will enhance the values I am trying to teach my children and those things that fit into my budget. This is one reason why I am so thankful that our church (and many others) have chosen to do Upward Sports. Last year was our first year participating in any Upward Sprots and we are doing it again this year. Upward Cheerleading & Basketball have started at our church this week.

Last year Bethany did cheerleading, but this year she is playing basketball. She has had her 1st practice and has her 1st game on Saturday. She seems to like her coach and is excited to play.

Jody has signed up for cheerleading and looks so cute in her uniform. I'm not sure how well she will know the cheers, but she has the cuteness down.

I am the adult coach for Jody's cheerleading squad. There are 3 other teens that will teach the girls the cheers and I will handle the devotions, dealing with the parents, behavior of the cheerleaders, and the administration stuff of the squad. I'm looking forward to it - a little nervous, but expecting it all to go well and to have fun with it.

John is doing the announcing and running the sound for all the games. He will have a blast with it.

This all means that our Saturday's from now until March will be full & busy. However, I am at peace about giving up my Monday's and Saturday's for practices and games and am looking forward to this Upward season.

Untill Later,
~Betty~

Christmas is Over

Well Christmas is over, but I'm still on vacation. Christmas was nice and I received special blessings this year - being with friends (those close enough to be family), special time with my family, making a special meal, making special phone calls with Pat, Ruby, and Heather & the girls, nice gifts, and seeing the excitment of my girls. It was a good time for all.

Now that Christmas is over I have been working around the house cleaning up, organizing, and painting. John & I have painted the girls bathroom with a dolphin theme. They seem to like it. Once I get my pictures back on the computer after our computer crash I will try to remember to post the before and after pictures.

For being on vacation we sure do have a lot planned. John and I are going on a date, we as a family are going swimming, we are touring a dairy factory, going to see christmas lights, having friends over, the girls have an overnight party, and having dinner at another family's home. Friends of mine from Ohio are here visiting (not staying at my house) so we are doing things with them. It is good to go on vacation at home.

I'm being blessed right now. As I am writing this my husband is cleaning up the kitchen - which was my job to do. I am so blessed to have John in my life and I am very thankful.

Until Later,
~Betty~

Catch Up

I have not left the blogging world. We have been having computer problems. John had to wipe clean our computer and we have to start over with it. I was able to save our pictures, but lost all my documents I had saved to the computer - my budget, my resume, John's resume, my child care handbook, and all the blog posts I had saved in Word. This should teach me to save my stuff on disc and not just to the computer.

I have been out shopping late at night two times this week. TuesdayI left my house at 10:30 pm after everyone was in bed. I returned at 1:00am. Then on Wednesday I went shopping after church with my friend Alice - that was fun. I did not return until 2:00am. It was different shopping late and with no kids. I actually enjoyed it and didn't dread it.

Thursday night we had friends over for dinner - they actually are more like my parents than friends - we exchanged gifts and it was a good time. It was a blessing and a special heart moment seeing my girls giving our friends their gifts and seeing our girls receive their gifts and playing with them.

Tonight we have stick ministry practice at church. Then tomorrow we have a party to attend. We will go to church on Christmas Eve and then just have some family time at home. On Christmas we will have our family Christmas and then have been invited over to some friends house and will spend the remainder of the day with them. I am looking forward to that.

This should catch up my week. I wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Until Later,
Betty