Girls Day Out

Hanging out the "gone fishin" sign one more time.

My week has not went as planned but I am heading to Chicago today to spend time with my two BFF's.

I will get back on the blogging track next week.

I hope everyone has a blessed Happy Easter!

A Very Special Guest

Happy Saturday!

My attempts to clear my plate didn't really go as planned, but God knew there was some reasons I needed a couple of weeks off, even if I didn't at the time. God is good, all the time.

So, I promised a special guest today, I am super excited about this!

A little over a week ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed I had a message from Sami. Sami is the daughter of my cousin Anissa. You know that meme that goes around about cousins being your first friends? This is us. We have been friends since we were old enough to remember. Sami has always held a very special place in my heart too. I don't get to see her (or her mom) as often as I like, but when we are together, we always have a wonderful time.

Aaannyywwaayy....

Sami had sent me a message with a you tube video attached. She had done her first lesson for the kids at her church and offered to let me see it.

So, the next morning, this was my quiet time. and I was so blessed. I so love this kid and I couldn't help but think about how happy her Great-Grandmother would be.

Without further ado, I give you Sami's message on the Woman at the Well. I love how she captures the kids' attention. I love how she captured mine.




Sami turned 18 just a few weeks ago, I am so very proud of her. Her mom said she has been helping with the youth at their church for quite a while now. I am looking forward to seeing more from her in the future.

Thank you, Sami, for sharing with us!

A Little Reminder

I have so many friends who are going through things right now, big things, and I think it is just time for a little encouragement, and a little "let me remind you who you are" talk.

I have friends who are so close to finishing school, friends who are dealing with aging, ailing parents, and friends who are just going through some soul-searching, facing giant trials. We are having major changes effecting our own house as Robert's boss sold the business Robert has worked for since he got out of school. Monday, Robert starts working for a corporation instead of the only boss he has ever known, so scary stuff here too.



So, as I said, let me remind you who you are.



Let's start at the beginning,

Psalm 139:14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Before you ever took a breath on this earth, God had plans for you. Because of free will, you may have had times in your life, or even right now, that you aren't looking for that plan, but incredibly, God still has plans for you. I will tell you without a flinch, there have been times in my life that I may have been going through the motions of going to church but not really trying to figure out what God wanted for me. I am a strong believer that the devil has just as much presence on earth as God does, and that seriously, you either are doing the will of one of the other. I think those times when I was not looking for what God wanted for me, The devil was dancing a happy dance, because I was falling straight into his ways. 

Sidebar here, I am also a firm believer that once you are saved, you are saved, nobody can take that away from you if you have made a confession of salvation. I do also believe though that every day you can be an ineffective Christian, the devil is winning. He may never get your soul, but he can keep you from winning others to Christ, and for him that is a win.


Every person on this earth, God made and for a reason. Sometimes we get so hung up on our shortcomings and failures, that we seem to forget who our Father is.


When I was growing up, my house was my refuge away from the world. I would have a bad day at school, whether self-imposed because I was unprepared, or didn't do my best, or because of someone making fun of me because I was fat, or not good enough for some other reason. I always knew if  I could just make it home everything would be okay.


I have found out a friend of mine didn't have that refuge this week and it has really bothered and hurt me. Everyone needs that. Everyone needs a place to land. I am realizing just now that Robert may have had a couple friends growing up, that our house was that refuge instead of their own. I don't think it matters, as long as you have a place.


I have also found as I get older that Jesus can lead me to that place mentally, if I let Him-if I ask. It doesn't even have to be a physical building, but just a few minutes praying for peace, and amazing Grace. It changes me.  So, this is just a reminder that you always have a Father to come home to.


I also want to remind you that God has plans for you, we hear Jeremiah 29:11 all the time.  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  In this world of wanting instant gratification, we think, "okay, cool, God's got this, and my life is going to be unicorns and rainbows." Yes, God's got this BUT. Do you ever look at Jeremiah 29:10? 


Here:   This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.


Jeremiah was speaking to the people who had been exiled into Babylon. They were not experiencing unicorns and rainbows. They were experiencing bad times after bad times.


And God said, When 70 years is up..... So, I am sharing this to prove that sometimes God's timing is not instant gratification, most of the time it is just not, period. We don't understand why we go through what we go through, but He does. Sometimes we may look back and have ah-ha moments, sometimes we may never.


Just wanting to remind you that there are days that aren't going to go how you want them to go.


There is another famous set of verses that I want to remind you of. Ecclesiastes 3:1-7.




There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

So, if you are going through a tough time right now, just remember who you are, and that we will get through it. We don't always understand why, but we know the Creator who knows the plan.

I am leaving you with James Taylor this morning, I know.....a little off my normal beaten path. I heard this song on my way home last night though. I have actually had this sent to me in a text message before and it made my day.

Sometimes, this is what I want to remind people the most. We always have a friend in Jesus but I think it is vitally important for us to mirror Him. I go back and forth between what I think my greatest accomplishments are. I have been to 2 funerals in the last 7 days and it makes me think a lot about what people will say about me when I am gone. I have had failures at work this week, so I imagine people saying I could have done better at that. I always think I could be a better money manager, time manager, organizer and I know I could always be a better friend, but out of all the things that I have going on, I think trying to be a good, true friend is at the top of my priority list. Some may not agree with me, but I think when I die, if people say, "She was a good friend", that would be my highest honor.

So..... Happy Saturday, hope everyone has a great week!