Brillante Weblog Premio 2008

Wow -an award! I've never been given an award before... ;)
"You like me, you really like me" - (poor Sally! she'll never live that down!)
My friend Michelle has bestowed this award on me and in response, I am to post my answers to the following questions:

1. Ten Years Ago....
In 1998 - I met and fell in love with my now husband, John! I went to Bermuda that spring with my family on a cruise (great time!!). I was working at a local company as an administrative assistant. And, I was a lot thinner! ;)

2. Five Things On Today's 'To - Do' List:
Host/lead P.A.L.S. ('summer school' in my home). Put away laundry I did at my sisters (washer broke!). Cook and clean, play and take care of boys. Make/write out very overdue thank you notes for boys birthday gifts. Get ready for tomorrow's Bible Study.

3. Snacks I Enjoy:
(Note: quicker to write what I don't enjoy! I'll just give an abridged list)
pretty much any baked good (cookies, brownies, etc..)
Boursin cheese with crackers
Movie popcorn
Ice cream

4. Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire...
Pay off bills (I know - not fun - but necessary)
Take care of my family
Take family vacation
Give to charity (like St. Jude's)
Help friends get on the mission field
And in general, I would continue working on the many ministries that I am now, and be able to enjoy it and give it my all with no concern to needing to earn money! There's so much to be done!!

5. Places I Have Lived...
Braintree
Halifax
Hanson

I am supposed to tag 5 bloggers...
I really only know 2 bloggers personally, and 1 tagged me!
So here you go Jen!

help..

Ok - any ideas on how to make my slide show fit?...

Wow - that's the way to be!

I was with a group of ladies from church this Saturday whom I have come to sincerely love and appreciate deeply!! We meet each month for our Heart 2 Heart group where we are able to pour our hearts out to each other in an environment filled with love, respect, compassion, understanding and in confidence!! Ahh... the ability to vent with complete peace of mind, knowing your dirty laundry will not be pinned up on a clothes line for all to see!

The second Saturday of the month is quickly becoming one of my favorite days, and I look forward to it immensely!!

This month, Psalm 139 was mentioned and as we read it, the words really penetrated my heart and I felt God teach me something almost immediately! (which is quite a feet being as thick headed as I can be!!)

Psalm 139 is a beautifully written song by David (though 100% holy inspired by The Lord).

It begins with David offering praise to God for being all knowing - being of full knowledge of every aspect of David's being, thoughts, actions - that He knows it all before time existed. He so aptly writes: vs. 6 'Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.'

Boy oh boy, I feel that way many times as I study the Bible or as I am no my knees in prayer. As truths about the Lord and His ways start to sink in.. as I start to think I'm getting a grip on things, I become completely overwhelmed (in a good way!!) by how BIG God is!! how mighty!! how Loving!! how forgiving, gracious,..... I am left just marveling 'God, you are just amazing!!'

There's a verse that may be very familiar to many, vs. 14, 'I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.'

When we look at our children, I think we find this verse so easy to believe, don't we? But what about when you think of it in terms of yourself? Speaking for myself, it can be very hard for me to take in. Poor self-esteem? Am I too 'humble' to allow myself see me in these terms?.. maybe... But here's the key: Simply think on the fact (not just think - no - really meditate on it and prayerfully ask that our hearts be able to accept this truth) that God's word says 'your works are wonderful'! Because if we in fact do believe in the latter part of the verse 'I know that full well', then how dare we have 'low self esteem'? We are part of His work, are we not? Therefore, are we not wonderful in His eyes? And if we are wonderful in our makers eyes, the maker of the whole universe, who are we to think lowly of His creation?... (there's something to chew on... I'm still chomping away)

But here's what really got me about this Psalm; there are 24 verses in this song of David's. The first 18 verses praise God so beautifully!! The next 3 deals with David's enemy's. The last 2 he asks God to search his heart for anxious thoughts and any offensive ways that God may lead him in the correct way.

75% of this Psalm praise God!!

12.5% are petitions to deal with his enemies who speak out against God!

8.33% are petitions asking God to put him on the right track!

That's the way to be isn't it?!!

What if we were to spend 75% of our life praising!! Joyous hearts in song, or uplifting thoughts. Praising our heavenly father! Could we be down, self loathing, lazy, grumpy when we are consumed with praise for another - for God?!!

What if we were to only dedicate 8% of our life talking about ourselves?...

Then, give what we can't control to God knowing He is fully capable of handling any situation.

I think the vast majority of the time when my spirit is down, I can chalk it up to 'self'. How I choose to see things, how I look at things... I am going to make the choice to spend the majority of my days praising!!

Here's a challenge for us all:

Take vs. 14 and insert your name!

'I will praise you Lord for Diane is fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, Diane knows that full well.'

This is not blasphemy - it's just a matter of taking scripture and making it personal to help us take it in as fully as we can.

Go ahead - give it a try.

Start spending 75% of your days praising Him, and remember that you are part of His wonderful work!!

In an effort to SIMPLIFY

Ok - so my attempt to simplify in 08' has not been very successful thus far...
However, I will not give up hope completely!!!

In an effort to get back on the wagon... ok, I never really got on... I kind of watched it longingly from afar whilst running around incessantly in busy little circles ... I am cutting down to just one blog.
My 'Comfy Crop' blog really is not necessary. I am able to post crop dates on this blog and I really don't do much else with my scrapbooking site - so this will be fine - and, simpler!!

You may notice some little changes, but hopefully, it will all be for the best!

I hope you have all had a great weekend!!

Big challenges for myself this week! Much to be done in pursuing a new adventure in my life.

Prayers always welcome!!

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday

My mum loved birthday cake!!
I remember there was a time years ago when she was craving it all the time. One of us would make a run to the bakery to bring her back a little fix. But still, the cravings continued.

Finally, after an evening of continuous 'subtle hints' about how greatly she would love to eat some birthday cake - a friend of the family showed up with a 'birthday party'!!
She brought party hats, noise makers, and of course.. a birthday cake written out to my mother. Actually, I believe it read "Happy Birthday Ace"... that name is another story for another time...
It was no where near her actual birthday mind you.... But do we really have to wait until our birthday for a little indulgence and a reason to celebrate?

As memory serves, this did the trick. I don't recall the cravings persisting much after that time.

Another cake memory involving my mother always tickles John..
It was my 26th birthday. This was a very hard birthday for me, as silly as that sounds. You see, I had just gotten divorced and was feeling horrible (yes, another story for another time).. My mother decided that for my birthday, she'd get me a Brian's cake. Brian's is an amazing bakery in Braintree that makes confections to flip for!!!!
All day, I had thought of this cake... couldn't wait to get home, have a family dinner and dig into this cake!! I finished up work (another story... I think I'll do this as my birthday approaches) drove hurriedly home, ran up the steps, burst into the house with a eager 'hello'!!...
Silence....
No one was home....
But then, I spotted 'the box' on the kitchen table.
White with tucked in sides.... the scent of chocolate and sugar permeating the air....
Dinner?.. I didn't need no stinkin' dinner!! I was ready for that cake...
I opened that box with great expectations, only to find... 1/3 of a cake...
What? Where did the other 2/3's go?
MUM!... She took 2/3's of my birthday cake to BINGO...
2/3's of my present went off to church to energize the ladies while waiting for N32!!!!
Is that too funny, or what?!!

Oh well... Mum, you gave us a lot to laugh about.
Happy Birthday Mum!!!
We'll have some birthday cake for you!
I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up Up And Away!!

Launched rockets today with my hubby, two boys and my father-in-law. Had a great time!! Beautiful weather, happy kids, great memories made!

As I sat watching the scene before me - my husband hooked up the rocket, inserted safety key, held down the launch button, heard the faint sizzling sound of the rocket being ignited, watched as the faces of my family turned skyward following the path of the rocket and burst into grins when the rocket broke apart and fell to earth gently with a sway as the parachute caught the air, it occurred to me... This is very much the pattern of my life.

So much of life is preparation, isn't it? Learning skills to be able to proceed to the next event. We learn to walk to then run, to then get places with purpose... Once we're prepared, we then try to ignite our imaginations, passions, ambitions to 'go somewhere'. We take flight. Then, we frequently run out of steam, and hope to fall as gently as the rocket did.

If the scene had ended here, it would be sad indeed - but alas, there is hope!! there is more to the story!

Once everyone stopped clapping or gleefully commenting on how high the rocket had shot that time, the race was on to gather the parts to start over. My oldest son ran after the dismantled rocket and enthusiastically rushed back to his Dad to have it reassembled to be shot off again.

My husband carefully rewound.. um.. the things (hey - I didn't say I was an expert at this rocket thing, I just learned something from it), put it back in the rocket, added a new ignitor and attached it back to the base. There we go - ready for another try!! This happened many times until the sun got too hot and we were ready to go back home for some refreshments.

When we hit a wall, run out of steam, need to change directions or just simply feel like we're in a rut, the good news is - we can pick up the pieces, reassemble and try again, and again... and again. Every day is a new opportunity to gather the pieces that aren't fitting together or are broken apart and make something new.

Maybe, we need to ignite something new - or, try a new ignitor (again, may not be giving the right names to this analogy, but go with me) - The first few launches we did, my husband used an 'A' ignitor. The launches went well! He then switched to a 'B'. The rocket soared higher into the air and moved much father from the initial launch site.

I've been doing well with A. It has been fulfilling in many ways, but lacking the satisfaction of helping my family financially, and not giving me that something I need to make me feel... hmm... I don't know. Like what I'm doing really counts. (not sure I'm explaining myself well).

So it's time for 'B'!

What is B?.. not sure - but think I may be on to something.

Had a thought in my mind, and my dear friend Jen called to encourage me today (you're such a love Jen!!!) and mentioned this B that I hadn't tolled her about... A sign?..

Not sure, but surely an encouragement to keep pressing on to 'B'!!!

So if you too are in the same.. ah, rocket, then rewind - reignite - and up up and away with you!!!!

Ramblings..Keepin' It Real

I love Beth Moore.
What I really mean is, I LOVE Beth Moore!!!!
I consider her my mentor (even though I have never personally met her).
Her love for God and zeal for the Bible encourage me more than words can say.
I have read a few of her books, completed a couple of her Bible studies (you want an in depth study, Beth's studies are the way to go let me tell ya!), I've seen her speak live once (will see her again in October - woo hoo! way more energizing than the best rock concert you can think of) and I am a faithful viewer of Wednesdays With Beth on the James Robison show (should be called the 'James & Beth Robison Show' as his wife sits there next to him every show).

Wednesdays With Beth is how I first came across Beth. Short Bible studies (about 20 minutes) where she teaches God's word in compassion and tenderness with no trace of judgement and not a drop of uncertainty. She encourages the viewers to read God's word, love it, and apply it to their lives.
Tonight's message, Beth spoke about 'Cutting the Bull' - Instead of giving the appearance of having things 100% together, when you really only have about 70%, what would happen if we were just real, and let the 70% shine through? After all, haven't we all come to grips with the fact that no one is perfect (the only perfect being to walk this earth is now in heaven preparing a mansion for all who name Him as their Savior!! AMEN!)

So let me take this time to - Be real!
I'm in valley at the moment. (but praise God, there are no valleys without mountain tops, right?!!)
* Still missing my Mum. Night time is typically the hardest when the men are all asleep.
* Not feeling very good about myself. Had a great start a few weeks back with changing my eating habits. I'm now however, back to my old ways. Afraid that very soon I'll look like Violet from 'Willy Wonka' and someone will have to roll me off. (I do look good in purple however, so at least I'll have that going for me)
* PALS is coming next week!! This is a group I do in the summer to help my son and his friends not loose any of the skills they learned during the previous school year while encouraging growth in the areas with which they have trouble. The last two years, I had everything printed, bought, put together, meetings held, etc.. by this time. This year, I'll be doing a little flying by the seat of my pants. Not something I'm comfortable with at all. I stand by the ole' "If something is worth doing - do it right!"
* Bible Study is coming! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Bible!! I also have a heart for women - their concerns, their hearts, their well being.... So to lead a Bible study in my home is a huge privilege to me!! I am extremely humbled by the fact that 9 ladies have signed up to come and share in the learning of God's word with me. As completely thrilled as I am (and I truly am!!!), I'm a little nervous that with all else going on, I wont be able to give this my all. Praying God will just use me as a vessel and then pour out His wisdom and grace to all who attend!!

* VBS is coming - ok, I have until August to prepare for this - but I'm taking on a new role. I'll be teaching the Bible lesson. Nervous about doing a good job - and about being able to attend....

* I need a job! Here's one of the big stresses of my life at the moment!! I have been home with the kids for 5 years now!!! Even though I've done a myriad of things to keep some mullah coming in, I'm nervous about going out there again. Will I have the skills that are being sought after now, will they like me, can I find something that will fit the family? I have no definitive direction as to what field I'm meant for.. Should I go for schooling?... what?
I feel like I'm someone who does ok at many things, but great at nothing. In many ways, that's good - you know, to be well rounded (and I'm well rounded that's for sure - note the 'healthy' eating comment above). But when it comes to choosing a career - not so helpful.

*Lastly... I had a little disappointment this week. You ever have something come up where you think 'oh no - the timing is terrible, this isn't a good thing for us now' - but then when the occasion, opportunity, etc.. doesn't come about, you then feel sad about it? Well - I have that on top of everything else!!!

OK - So here's the up side to keeping it real!
* Regardless of all else - I still have the joy of the Lord!!! I am not without hope!! I have more blessings in my life than I can count.
I will come out of this valley and be atop a mountain again!!

But for the moment, if I seem a little down, just give me a gentle push, and remind me to 'keep climbing.'