My dear sweet hubby, Ron, and I have been married for 20+ years. We began dating during my freshman year at Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville. He is my college sweetheart. We have ministered together in various ministries during our lives together. We pastored for 10 years in Florida. We moved to TN in 2000 to Co-Pastor with some friends of ours. The Lord has given me a fabulous provider whom I love more than any words I write could ever express. He is now the CEO at our denomination's publishing company, Randall House Publications. I am honored to support him.
Our oldest child is named Michael. He is now officially a teenager, although I don't think I'm old enough to have a teenager. He is a very sweet and considerate young man. He is my thinker and my reader. He absorbs every piece of new information that he comes across. He loves playing soccer, riding his bike, skateboarding, reading, watching the History Channel, the Military Channel, ESPN and any documentary on TV. I am privileged to be his Mother.
Lauren is our youngest child. She is just 15 months behind her brother in age. She is wise beyond her years. She has a sharp-witted tongue (which sometimes has to be tamed), a quick sense of humor and a heart for people and animals. She loves organizing anything and everything. She loves being with her friends, singing, talking on her cell phone and playing soccer. I am blessed to be her Mother.
Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier.
- Kathleen Norris
This is a devotion I wrote back in December. I may have actually already put it up here. But while reading it this morning on my FB page I felt led to post it again.
What a way to start the day! I had my regular monthly doctor’s appointment this morning. The office is in Cool Springs/Franklin. It normally takes about 20-25 minutes to get there. This morning it took THREE HOURS! I had heard on the news before leaving home that there was an accident on 65 South in the general vicinity of where I get off to go to his office. They had closed 65S in the area. It was the worst traffic jam I have ever been in - even on trips. Follow this link to see a brief article about the accident. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081211/NEWS16/81211004 There is also a video showing the site. It was very sad. It made me think how fragile life is and how quickly the end can come. When a person is sick and dies it is usually an expected and sometimes welcome experience for the person as it means their suffering is over. I wondered how the person driving the SUV must have felt in that second they realized they were going to be in an accident. Did they wonder which direction they needed to steer in order to avoid the accident? Were they singing along with the radio? Did they think about their family? Did they think about the last conversation they had with their spouse? Did they wonder if they hugged their children enough? Did they think about what would happen if they had only left a few seconds earlier/later? Did they think about where they would spend eternity? Did they imagine themselves standing before their Maker? Life can change in the blink of an eye. I wondered if they were prepared to spend eternity with the Lord or if they were, at that moment, in the presence of satan. The sight of the accident made me think of how many hurting people there are all around me. Do I smile enough to them? Is Christ visible in my day to day actions? Do I show others the love of Christ when I interact with them? Or do I display judgment and negativity? Do others feel better after spending time in my presence or do they feel worse? Do I affect them at all? Have I been Jesus to someone today? I prayed today for the family members of the driver of that SUV. And I prayed that my life would also be changed because THEY met Jesus today.
How will you respond after reading this? Will you let Christ change you
Those are the sounds my stomach is making today because I started a "diet" this morning. Why is that water tastes better when you drink it because you WANT it and not because you HAVE TO drink it? And I am sooooo hungry! GRRRRRRRR
Anyway, Ron found a website (well, actually a friend told him about it) that helps in the weight loss process. It is www.nutrimirror.com - it figures your caloric intake for the day to reach your goal weight. Randall House is starting it tomorrow. They will make it a contest. They will weigh in once a week and record their weight gains/losses on a board for all to see. At first I said I wanted to come and participate as well. Then I regained control of my run away brain and have decided to keep my weigh in numbers here at home. I have agreed though to post them on the wall for all to see. Thankfully here only those who HAVE to love me and who I can ground if they laugh at me will see it!! I am, however, contemplating keeping the countdown here on my blog as well. I will see if I can find some of those countdown sites I used to use on my blog.
Since competition is not an incentive for me - I don't really care about whether I am ahead or behind anyone else - Ron has offered me an incentive I understand. First of all he asked me what my ideal weight was. I told him I wanted to lose 100 pounds. He assured me that this was too much. Even though in MY head it seems perfect. I have chosen a more realistic weight. I'm not giving any weight amounts right now. But I will say that my goal weight is 58 pounds away. The site encourages you to lose one pound a week. So, I am expecting it to take 58 weeks to reach my goal AND my prize!!!!!
Ok - that's accountability people!! Wanna join me? Check out the site and jump in with me. YOu can even come over here and step up on my scales that are now in my kitchen once a week with me if you want!! Come one - Come all! Let's all get healthy!!!!!!!
Now I'm going to have another glass of water. Yummmsloshyummmslosh....
Ron keeps telling me I need to write a devotion for those of us who deal with depression. I'm wondering what I would have to say that has not already been said by a zillion other people.
My mom says I need to write articles for magazines. What would I have to say that has not already been said?
My dad has always said I should do more writing. What would I have to say that has not already been said?
My grandmother told me, before she died, that she always thought I would be a writer. I have no idea what she thought I could write. I do remember writing little skits for me and my 3 cousins to do when we would have our big Christmas Eve celebrations each year. I'm thinking that's not quite what she had in mind. Although I could probably still do that.
At any rate, it appears that the Lord is pricking my heart about writing. I have a hard enough time trying to think of stuff to write here on my blog - as we all know since I took a 3 month hiatus. I'm hoping all that he wants me to do is just reach you through this blog. I do know that during the period of time that I was gone for those 3 months I was always thinking I should be writing. I'm always coming up with ideas of things to blog about. Unfortunately, by the time I sit down here to write it it is LONG gone from my memory. I need to make more of an effort to keep track of those thoughts.
Why am I telling YOU this? So you can pray for me. I want to be obedient to the Lord. But I'm the kind of person who needs a smack upside the head and a voice from Heaven. When you pray for that could you please ask Him to not smack me too hard? A firm tap should do the trick. Thanks - that'd be great!
Seeing the kids reading their Bibles on their own
Hearing the ocean
Smelling a cake baking
Remembering our wedding day
Singing in the church choir
Shopping for my family
Feeling good
Reading in the tub
A quiet house
Watching a funny movie with the kids
Seeing my kids playing a game together
Ron's little finger dance
Hearing my kids being excited about church
Watching Ron play with Faith (our dog)
Hearing Ron snoring beside me after he has been gone on a long trip
Chatting with special friends
Feeling hot sand under my feet on a beach somewhere
Game night with Brian & Kim and kids
Spending one on one time with Kim
Double Dating With Brian and Kim
A clean house
Sitting on my front porch in my new rockers
Walking on a cool evening with my family
Things I Want To Do Before I Die
Take voice lessons
Lose 100 pounds
Take a yearly vacation with just my girl friends
Break completely free from the strongholds that have a grip on me
Find a hair style that I'm totally happy with
Become a great grandmother
Live on the beach
Drive a racecar on the race track
Learn to swim confidently
Go sky-diving
Learn to knit
Scrapbook our family's life
Build a house with an inground pool
Own my own laptop
Visit Alaska
See the REAL Eiffel Tower
Take a short term family missions trip
Own a black Jaguar X-Type car
Be a REAL wife/mom who cooks/cleans and everything
Have Lasix Surgery
Bungee Jump
