UPDATES

I have really neglected this blog...that's okay...no one is complaining.

Here is a little of what has been happening:

- received a very last minute request to speak at a ladies gathering. I immediately said yes..why...because it was so last minute...I had no time ro prepare so I knew it had to be all God. God is so amazing. The message came together and it was a wonderful evening.

- waiting to here back from a job interview today.

- leaving for west virginia in a few hours to spend time with family. Can't wait for our morning cups of coffee and maybe a trip to the auction

- been a crazy month of parenting. God continues to show me how so many times we can do nothing but pray. It seems that each child has something going on in their lives right now that will result in growth and hopefully a deeper relationship with Him.

- I sit here thinking about how thankful I am for the simple things in life.
My crazy dog who makes me smile and has learned to scratch my back on command, a warm cup of coffee, a snuggly quilt, the stillness of the morning, spontaneous trip to starbucks in a blizzard last night, great friends, great family, and a God who loves me more than I can fathom. I wish the above for everyone...love ya all.

EMPLOYMENT UPDATE

This week I applied for 2 full time jobs. I am excited about both opportunities and I am leaving it in God's hands. Where he leads...I will follow.

Today I was checking out an employment website and applied online for a substitute teacher position. Fifteen minutes later the phone rang. There is a school that is experiencing a huge increase in enrollment. The school is an "arts" school. The arts are incorporated in math, science, english, etc. The pay is much higher then other schools and this would be a long term position. I am going to check them out on tuesday. I would love to have my own class for a long period of time. They will even help you become certified to teach full time.

Pray for me...I don't want to get my hope up...but...it's all up to Him.

I especially want to be teacher during the holidays...they get soem great gifts. (ha ha)

STICKS CONFERENCE

Today I am at the Sticks Conference. There are some great speakers here and I thought about blogging about some of the great things I heard from the keynote speaker Mark Batterson. Then...I went down to the prayer room and I heard from the best speaker of all...God.

Here is what He said

"Don't just pray when all else fails...pray before, during and after it fails"

There are some people very close to me who are struggling with some big issues. Know that I am praying for you!!! Know that God loves you more than anyone. Know that He never moves...He is always there to catch us when we fall, to put us back on our feet or to carry us through.

I do want to share one thing that Mark shared. Sometimes we focus too much on the small perspective. When we are going through hard times...we focus on the small and not how it fits into the big picture. It may seem BIG now...but it really is just a small piece of a larger picture.

Mark also said that we are always praying that people will come to church. We need to stop praying for the "coming" and be part of the "going." We need to be the ones who GO and bring them.

I enjoyed his talk and even gave him a personal prayer request.

FIREPROOF

Last night our care group went to the movie "Fireproof:. I highly recommend the movie. It was a great example of what God has called us to in a marriage.

The other day in church...this became a visual for me. I was standing beside Wally who is 6'3". I am 5'4" and I was wearing flats. He actually stood over a head taller than me. It made me realize that because of his height...he can possibly see things that I can't and he can see things coming before I do. As the leader of our home...he is our protector and it is important that he sees things better than anyone in the home. God called us to be a "helpmate" to our spouse. Someone told me that God made us from a "rib" so that are at our husband's side. Not from a foot to walk over us.

Great job Wally!!!

I AM SO TIRED!!!!!

There is not a word to express how tired I am. We just finished the outreach that our church does every october. Our entire family was involved. Last night my team counted and we acted our scene 99 times. Literally 99 times. Our scene was very emotional. In this scene...my husband in life and in the drama dies. We have to be very emotional. My the 90th take...I was literally justing saying my lines. There was no emotion left in me.

It was a great event and lots of great stories have been told. We had 4000 people attend and way over 400 people gave their life to Christ.

I had so many great things happen last week as I subbed at three different school.

That will have to come later...I am too tired...

I am grateful for one thing today...I voted early and won't have to worry about lines tomorrow.

VOTE!!!