Simple truth

Life is hard and God is good. Plain and simple.

Just knowing that gives me the courage to keep going...to keep stepping out of my comfort zone...to keep living my life for Him. He is so faithful to teach, correct, encourage and comfort and all I can say is "Thank you!"

No deep thoughts...just a deep feeling of gratitude.

He's got our back

There is so much in this world I don't understand, but one thing I know with absolute certainty is God's got our back. He is in our today and already working in our tomorrows. If I didn't believe that with all my heart, it would be very hard to keep going sometimes.

Our sweet friends Ted and Nikol are facing uncertain tomorrows as Ted battles lymphoma. Please pray for them as he faces six months of chemo. You can read Nikol's heart on her brand new blog Unfolding Graces. Please stop by and let her know you're praying. Ted is doing a series of video journal's on their church's website. You'll want to grab your tissue for those as he shares the very real everyday struggles of dealing with cancer.

Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Thank you God for that promise.

Shout out to Jen

Take a minute to check out my friend Jen's blog, Light Enough to See. Don't you just love that title? It's one of my favorite songs. He really does make everything glorious if we take it all to Him. Only He could take my piles of problems and make something that would in any way bring Him glory. He's so cool that way.

Apparently the Lord has been chasing Jen down with the idea for quite some time. She's been dealing with some health issues and wants to use what the Lord has taught her to bless others. Stop by and give her a hug from me!

Here comes the bride!

Emma found my wedding dress today and insisted I wear it "so we could get married". Talk about a reality check. There will be no photos of that special event...the one in which I TRIED to get into my dress.

Here are some pics of my little bride. Cue Martina McBride singing "In My Daughter's Eyes" and pass the tissue. The bride wore a blushing pink gown with a floor length veil and carried pink tulips.

Art imitating life

Here's the picture we have hanging in our dining room -


Nice hu? We all look so, well, normal...and quiet...and momentarily well behaved. Ha! I dare say there is nothing quiet about our family...the normal, that's up for debate.

This is the one I wish we had hanging in our dining room -

This is truly art imitating life. This is MY life. Sometimes I love it...sometimes I desperately wish for the first photo to be true.

Case in point - today I was playing Solitaire. Now, the name of the game implies that one would play the game ALONE. Nope, not at my house. Within 30 seconds of sitting down on the couch they began to gravitate to the living room like ants to a picnic and before I could nicely ask them to get out of my bubble, they had burst it completely as they ALL (yes, Mike too) gave me advice on how to play each card.

Despite the desperate lack of personal space, I think I'd get bored with the first photo rather quickly. There may not be much quiet, but at least the loudest noise is the laughter.

Springtime in Texas

Yesterday's weather was amazing, so we headed to the Arboretum. I envisioned us lying on a blanket reading the afternoon away amid the blooms. Funny how often my reality does not line up with my ideal. Being the homeschoolers that we are, we completely forgot it was spring break. Apparently 1.3 million other families decided yesterday would be a great day to spend enjoying the blooms as well.

Not to be deterred, we still had an awesome time. Thankfully we have a pass, so we'll just go again next week when everyone is back in school. I'm not so big on crowds. Call me selfish, but I like having the place to myself.

Books make me smile

I love me a good deal. Today when we stopped by the library I quickly perused their book sale table and found some great reads - nine books in all, seven of them hard backs, for only $5.00! So, here's what's on my reading list for the next little while:

The Great Gatsby
The Red Badge of Courage (think I'll assign that one to my 12 year old)
He Sets the Captive Free - Corrie Ten Boom's story
Wuthering Heights
The Truth About Hillary (will only read this one during the daytime so as not to give myself nightmares!)
an ENORMOUS (or GINORMOUS as my nine year old says) Tom Clancy novel and several other fiction titles

Time with friends this morning, great deals and gorgeous weather made for a nice day...a very nice day.

Connected to Christ

The key to the Christian life is not how hard we try to be spiritual, but how closely we stay connected to Christ. We don't need to worry so much about what we're doing. Our real focus should be on staying close to him.

If you find that living the Christian life is wearing you out, you could be trying to live it in your own strength - doing things FOR Christ rather than enjoying a relationship WITH Christ.

excerpt from a devotional on JOY

Life as worship

"This is the secret to a lifestyle of worship--doing everything as if you were doing it for Jesus. The Message paraphrase says, "Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering".(Romans 12:1) Work becomes worship when you dedicate it to God and perform it with an awareness of his presence."
~ Gene Turner, Pastor, Southside Christian Center

Ha! That's a good one!

I love to laugh. In fact, I would say it's one of my favorite things. When you face difficult situations, you come to realize the true power of a good belly laugh. King Solomon knew what he was talking about. It really is good medicine. Thankfully, I am my own source of great material.

I've laughed a lot today, mostly at myself. Spent the morning fighting a sofa...the sofa won and now sits in a corner, mocking me. I'm still not certain it wouldn't fit, but SOME people convinced me otherwise.

Then we made a flying trip to visit a new dentist. They would only see two of the kids at a time for the first visit just in case we are a flaky family and forgot to show up. Guess what almost happened? I was busy fighting a sofa. Add our tardiness to the fact that we forgot to brush our teeth before we went and the kids still had a bit of dried breakfast on their faces...yes, today I gave all homeschool moms a bad name. Maybe I can make up for it when I take the other two kids in tomorrow. I think I'll make them where a coat and tie and bring their copy of War and Peace.

I figure I might as well laugh at myself and all my faults. It's a whole lot better than crying don't you think?