It's all over, the house!!

As I lay in bed this morning thinking about all of the things that I must do, I was tired before I even began! My head was full of snot, my eyeballs hurt, my throat hurt and right between my shoulders ached!!

I walked into the living room to survey the damage...it looked like a tornado had hit or a 9 year old had run amok. Every room in our little house was a mess!!

I knew that if I didn't do it, no one would! Oh the joys of motherhood! I finished around 4:00 this afternoon. All of the laundry, plus new clothes were done. All of the wrapping paper in the free world that was in my living room is now gone.

Dishes are clean, pictures from the new camera are now on the computer and my frizzy hair issues will now be solved thanks to a new Chi iron!!!

Cookies crumbs are vacuumed so are the pieces of Play dough, which was compliments of NaNa!

When I finally set down to check my email one struck me odd, since I was in the mind set of "Woe is me"! I have cleaned this place BY MYSELF!!! I'm not doing anything else and yes, we are eating out!!!

After reading the email, I realized that THIS is my job.

Part of the email read:

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

The Lord knows about my work as a mom! He lovingly reminded me that my toil is not in vain. He understands how much I need to be encouraged because he understands weariness. His words and my own echoed in my mind: Be steadfast—hang in there—commit to a heart of steadfastness—choose to be steadfast and immovable—why? Because, my work matters, it is changing history, one life at a time—I am soul-building—it counts.

And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we will reap if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:9)

God reminded me through that email that my job is important. Even if it's picking up wrapping paper, doing laundry, making lunch or getting dinner from Chili's, my job is important and tiring.

Christmas Eve 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Brown Sleigh??

The big, brown sleigh has been arriving at our door for the past couple of weeks. I love the big, brown sleigh!! It brings me joy when I hear him pull up in front of the house.

Hope your sleigh brings you good tidings of great JOY!!!

Family Friendly G-rated blog

Sad news all...

After receiving a comment on a previous post from someone who decided to use a cuss word I had to turn on the "moderate" comments button.

This is a Family friendly (G-rated) blog. Not a blog that has cussing (no potty mouth), photographic nudity, sexual content, or hostility toward other bloggers.

Main Entry: G-rat·ed
Pronunciation: \ˈjē-ˈrā-təd\
Function: adjective

1: having a rating of G; broadly : relating to or characterized by a lack of violence, obscenity, or sexual explicitness 2: innocent, clean

Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, which I might add were given to us by our "creator".

And...since it's my blog, I get to post WHAT. I. WANT. If there is something on my "family friendly" blog that you don't happen to like, then please don't visit.

It's like the tv, if you don't like whats on, change the channel or turn it OFF.

Am I wrong?

What a difference a few minutes make...

I received an email today from my youngest sister about Christmas. Right now, they are mad at me for sending them a letter and book. Click Here

I decided to answer back. I think maybe I shouldn't have.

Below are are the emails:

Now the ball is in your court, you can either accept Him or deny Him. Either way, I love you but I would like to spend eternity with you also.

Do you remember putting this sentence in your letter? Just wondering if you meant anything in the letter because I guess if I had lied and told you that I did not believe in Him then you would still be coming to Christmas and would have come to Thanksgiving. Hmm, just a thought.
Summer

Here's what I wrote:

Hmm, just a thought. WOW!! No, that wouldn’t have changed anything.

Anyway, Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! No stress or walking on eggshells, we even went out that night to Lindale to see the Christmas lights.

My family and I will be spending our Christmas here. I will send our gifts with mom so that all will have them.

I should have known that you all would take my heart-felt letter and book in the wrong way. But biblical things are foolishness to those that don’t understand. And when confronted with sin the only thing one can do is be defensive.

It was selfish of me to ask my husband and children to spend holidays around people who have no understanding of us and make us feel uncomfortable. You mentioned that all of you are saved…saved from what? What did Jesus actually save you from? Can you name anything? And if He saved you from it, are you still doing it and why?

Out of all of them…you were the one that surprised and disappointed me the most. Rhonda couldn’t care less and Robin wouldn’t know Jesus if he walked up and slapped her.

I don’t understand why people call themselves “Christians” and don’t act like it. The word means “Christ-like”. If one isn’t going to be Christ like, then those need to call themselves, Buddhist, Muslim or something else. It’s a shame when someone can’t share Jesus with others, I don’t know when that became a bad thing.

If you want to CC…the others in on this with your response, please feel free to do so. Although, I did think that our conversation last time was between just us. A discussion about the differences between “religion” and “Christianity” will have to wait since I am so busy “recruiting” people for Jesus.

I’m not into having an email war or anything like that; this will be the only one I send. But if you would like to bombard me with emails, please go ahead.

I will continue to pray for you and the others because “When you pass and come back to let me know that I am not on the list to get into heaven then I will have a problem with my life and do some things differently” then it will be too late for you and that’s what breaks my heart. Hmm…just a thought.

Then here's what I got back:

Haha. Talk about a Jesus Freak that is just what you have become. What is funny is that you will read this email back to you and see that I have cc’d my sisters so they can see that you have totally called them out again. Haha. I know for a fact that your daughter wanted to come to Nana’s because it was boring at your house on Thanksgiving and she wanted to play with the other nieces and nephews. Sad you hide from the truth only now when you look at yourself the most.

I’m truly sad for you. You are uneducated and blinded by the preaching of a church and religion that has only been around 2000 years. You worship Jesus who himself NEVER proclaimed to be God and you take verbatim the words of the three synoptic gospels of the bible (matthew, mark, and luke) with disproportional emphasis on the gospel according to John. Everyone knows the author of John wrote the book for the sole purpose of convincing the reader that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God and through him you will have everlasting life. Why? Because this was his belief and his story to tell. Then you try to convince us and your family that your form of Christianity is somehow the right one and closer to the message of Jesus Christ than mine when the truth is today’s Christian message is so far removed from the historical message of Jesus that it is an embarrassment that the word Christ is in the word Christianity. I mean, hello…Jesus was a Jew to begin with and would not step foot in a Christian church today…he would have been at the synagogue…with the other jewish believers.

However I shall let you be with you and your family alone as you have chosen to so poetically state below. I guess we never thought you would be the one that would have moved so far to the other side of the fence you couldn’t see swinging to hit you in the face. The only people you are harming are mother and your children and if you can not see that then that is your problem and not ours.

Your loving and sinful sister,

PS Sorry Mom, Rhonda and Robin….just thought I would reach out, didn’t work.

Needless to say, I didn't answer back. But boy did I want to!!! As I sit here writing this post, I have tears in my eyes...Am I wrong for what I wrote? Am I wrong for worshipping God?? What is the deal with people??

She's right...Jesus wouldn't be in a church today, He would be out talking to people like her.

To make matters worse, Poor Mom, she's caught in the middle and won't take sides, although I know who's side she would take.

I'm not sure who I'm crying for: me or God.

Wow, they just don't get it. Or maybe I don't. I hate drama. So anyone out there, please pray for these lost people and for me.

It's A Wonderful Life

The holidays use to make me crazy!! I would rush around and try to find gifts for people that I thought they would love, spend way too much money and stress that everything would be "perfect".

After many years of that I now realize there isn't any need in it. Yes, I still spend money on gifts (but not as much) and usually the reason for me going crazy is because of other people!! LOL!!!

No, really I got to thinking...how each one of us touch someone in one way or another. We don't realize it, it just happens. I think about the people I have met and how bits and pieces of them have affected me in good and bad ways.

I'm sure I have affected people in both of those ways also. Hopefully, more in good ways, though.

I am learning to appreciate those that come into my life whether it's good or bad. I need to learn from both experiences.

Like in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". You never know who or how you will touch someone, even for a moment.

Just a thought...

What Christmas is all about...