We Believe...

In case you were wondering.

Only God....

   

  Only God knows the reasons we suffer loss and disappointment. I don't know why, but I do know from my own experiences that God has a funny way of turning those situations around . . . if we let Him. I remember a point after Katrina when I was very frustrated. I kept telling friends and relatives that God was going to take care of everything, but I wasn't seeing any results. We decided to take a weekend trip to clear our minds. Having a front row seat at the "Post Katrina Destruction Circus" had a tendency to wear on us emotionally.
   So there we were sitting in a church far away from home, when the evangelist(who didn't know anything about our situation) came up to my husband and said, "The Lord has allowed some things to be taken from you and you can't understand why, but I'm here to tell you that God had to clear out your life to make room for what Hes getting ready to give you". Looking back over the last six years; I know that he was a messenger from God. It has been a rocky, sometimes tear-stained trail, but I can truly say that the view from up here has been worth it. We are better off physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
     I wrote this as a reminder to myself as well as an encouragement to my friend over at "Becoming Jody" I will not attempt to retell her story here, but it would be nice if some of you would hop over to her blog and introduce yourselves. Jody is very sweet and could use a pick-me-up today.

***P.S.Jody- I don't know how I missed your Jan. 27th post about the package I sent, but I stumbled on it when I was scrolling back to find the picture of Stella.
~Blessings to you and your precious family.~

Emotional Roller Coaster.....

I am sitting here completely spent.

As soon as I finish typing this I will probably melt into my mattress and fall fast asleep. 

I thought sharing the events of today would help me unwind.

I am amazed that in less than 24 hours I have experienced so many emotions.

Hectic:

This one is normal for a Sunday, because hubby drives the church bus, I teach Sunday school twice, then we race home for Sunday Evening Worship service.

Excited:

Because the little office in the VFW hall in Houma is starting to look more and more like a Sunday School class.

Euphoric:

I am not exaggerating about this one y'all. The service tonight was off the charts. We have had plenty of awesome services, but this was different. It started with the usual dance and shout, but then a sweet spirit of  love and healing swept through the church. All I could do was smile and cry, as I looked around at my beautiful church family. Everyone was binding together to pray for each others needs, then the dance and shout resumed. After a bit of praying for others, I began to pray for myself. I prayed till I temporarily lost my voice. When the service was over, many people lingered; simply enjoying each others company and the presence of the Lord.

Shocked:

Tired and hungry from a couple of hours of intense worship, a few of us went out for a snack. I had just gotten seated when I noticed a girl that I went to middle school with. She was once beautiful and seemingly happy. Tonight she looked like an empty shell; what was left after satan had stripped her of everything good.

I thought about talking to her, but wondered if she would even remember me. She was clearly intoxicated and I have only seen her once or twice in the past 22 years. I tried to eat, but didn't get one bite before my feet led me swiftly to the counter where she was trying to order. She immediately cleared up just long enough to get my name out and hug me. She proceeded to tell me through hazy, tear stained eyes that she had to grab the few bags that she had and run out the door before her husband started beating her again. I asked her what she was going to do. She said that she was going to walk to her grandpas house. It was cold and she could barely stand, let alone walk. I offered to give her a ride. Hubby sat in the back with Eloise and I drove. She told me that her grandfather lived in town....

SCARED: 

....well just on the other side of the tracks. As we proceeded into a dark scary part of New Orleans I began to pray under my breath. She began to explain that her grandpa didn't know she was coming, but that he would let her stay, because she brought him a bottle of wine(what?!?). Struggling for words, I gave her my card and told her that coming to church might help to clear her mind.

-At that moment-

there were police cars in front of us and behind us. Before I knew what was going on there was a police officer with a gun pointed at my windshield yelling for all of us to, "PUT YOUR HANDS UP". We quickly did so. A few other officers came closer to the car and questioned everyone in the car. I was still praying under my breath, because I teach at our local jail and I knew that this woman had a previous arrest record. Jail is where I had seen her those couple of times. 

After looking at our drivers' licenses they turned their attention to our passenger. It was obvious they didn't completely buy her story about her grandfather, but they let her go to the house. They then apologized for scaring us, but advised us to get back on our side of the border. We waited to make sure she got inside safely. When the door opened, I could clearly see that it was not her grandfather, as she and all of her 10 siblings are Caucasian and this gentleman was not. The man that opened the door had a look of contempt on his face, but when he noticed the bottle sticking up out of her bag he let her in. 

Heartbroken:

As we pulled of I could only pray that the contents of the bottle was the only thing she would have to give up in exchange for shelter.

I turned the car towards home,
 safety, warmth, love. . .
. . .God.

Tears began to well up.

I began to admonish my baby girl. I told her not to ever believe the lie that the grass is greener outside of the Church. I also explained that the devil comes in many disguises and that it doesn't matter what he looks like he isn't our friend. His goal is to rob us of any thing that reminds him of God. He can't stand the idea that God loves us.

The Bible says,

"In the beginning God created. . . .
. . . and He saw that it was good"

God did not create us for abuse of any kind.

~Me~

Now What....

It seems that every so often I find myself in a period of transition. It is an uncomfortable place for this "control freak" to find herself. Deep down my desire is to please the Lord, but sometimes my flesh gets all in a panic and won't shut up long enough for me to hear the voice of God. I won't go into all of the details, but there are several big decisions that hubby and I must make in the coming year. 

I keep thinking about something that Bro. Sean said in one of his sermons. He said, "just because something is a good thing....it may not be the right thing for you at this time."

I have also been pondering a message that myPastor recently preached. He talked about how people tend to live their lives without ever consulting God or their pastor. I don't want to be like that. I realize that I need God and His wisdom every day that I live.

I had to reach way back in the archives to dig out this song that I used to listen to.

I posted it, because it adequately expresses how I feel  what I know.

"I know the me without you(Jesus) is a lie"

Every good thing in my life is because God saw fit to save me and use me for His purpose, therefor I owe it to Him to go where he leads me.....

Now if I could just figure out where that is!

JUST PRAY PLEASE.

~Me~

P.S. Do you like this song?

Sometimes...

BTW: I posted two new recipes on my recipe tab.

Really?....

Tonight we went to Whole Foods on Magazine,
 because today was Hubby's parents' 41st anniversary
 and his mom is currently in the hospital.

 I wanted to bring them flowers
 and a couple of goodies to celebrate,
so I headed to the bakery
while Hubby & Eloise went to pick out the flowers.

 I briefly scanned the bakery department.

 There wasn't anyone in line, so I took my time browsing.

As I turned to my left,
 I realized that I was looking eye to eye with a man who I thought looked a lot  like Sylvester Stalone.
 He turned towards the front of the store
 and I went back to browsing.

After a while I turned back to the employees behind the display case to select my pastries.

 I tried to get their attention, but they were all whispering and pointing, so I turned to see what all the commotion was.

There was the Sylvester- looking guy getting in line with a tall, thin, model-looking lady
 and a young girl (12 maybe).

Really?

In my own defense, I never forget a face,
 but I haven't owned a television or been to the movies in almost 2 decades,
 so I wasn't sure what his family looked like.

 When I got home I googled
 and was instantly looking at a picture of the same people I saw standing in line at the grocery store,
 but in much fancier clothes of course.

I then went on to read that he has chosen New Orleans for some of his current movie projects.

Well don't that beat all?

I had to laugh, because I wouldn't have even realized who I was looking at had it not been for the excitement, of the people who obviously  knew more about this man than I did.

I got to thinking (as I have been known to do on occasion), does my enthusiasm about Jesus cause others to pause and investigate further?

 When the King of Kings arrives on location
 in the midst of busy people,
 who don't know much about him,
does my response lead them in the right direction?

 I want the people I come in contact with to leave thinking,
 "Really?....I've got to find out if that was really Him!"

I know, I know...
 that last part was a little deep for some of y'all.

If you found this post a little bizarre, it's ok.

I'll tell you like Bishop....

"Just send me a chocolate cake and $50 and I'll forgive you".

Love & Prayers,

Me

P.S. Is anyone else having problems posting pictures with blogger's recent changes?

Today......

I SLEPT IN LATE

(way late)

I ATE LOTS OF YUMMY FOOD:

(too much to list)

I WILL VISIT MY MOTHER-IN-LAW

(read scriptures and pray for her complete healing and salvation in Jesus' name)

I WILL KISS MY HUBBY

(the man who has vowed his life & heart to me)

I WILL HUG MY BABY GIRL

(as we sit on our cozy front porch and watch fireworks)

I WILL THANK MY GOD

(as I sink peacefully into my comfortable bed)

WHY?

BECAUSE

I

CAN.

Happy 4th of July!

Flashback......

     I mentioned in a previous post that I received a new phone for Christmas. I was overwhelmed with all of the features. It has a camera, but I rarely used it, because I didn't want to plug it in to the computer and then have to e-mail the pics to Wally World. That's just too many steps for this impatient woman.
     On a recent excursion I noticed an advertisement that said I could effortlessly send my pics to the kiosk using their new bluetooth system. All I had to do was stand in front of the instant print machine, select photos from my phone's gallery, select the bluetooth kiosk #, and voila my pictures appeared instantly on the screen in front of me. Does it get any easier than this? I don't even have to keep track of my little chip thingy.
     So now I have to explore all of the photo editing tools offered by my new best friend. The soft edges in the above picture and the crayon border in my header are both compliments of my phone highly sophisticated piece of technological genius.
      I'm sure there are probably some of you who are out there yawning, but I'm just thinking back to the dot matrix printer. You know, the one with all the holes along the edges of the paper....the one that always got off track and ended up jammed in a pile....so after several aggravating attempts you were rewarded with graphics that were a cross between cave drawings and bad pointillism. Only those, who are old enough to have experienced one of these painful episodes, can truly appreciate the beauty of modern technology.
     I would have to say that the above mentioned printers came out about the same time as those sun glasses (can you say CHIPS or Poncharello?) I guess it is OK for some of the styles to make a come back. At least I'll have plenty of pictures to blackmail Eloise with later.

The Best Valentine's Day Ever....

The delicious hand dipped berries that hubby had delivered were fabulous. It is also wonderful to think that this day commemorates the day 18 years ago that we officially began "going out". That being said, I must take a moment to gush about the one that I am most passionate about. He is truly amazing and he's been up to some really awesome stuff lately.

"Who?"

"What Stuff?"

Well,I thought you would never ask.

His name is Jesus and he has been creating quite a stir around here. As a matter of fact on this Valentine's Evening He made a way for us to bring a tub into the local prison and we

baptized 12 women in the name of Jesus

and one woman was so stirred, that she continued to pray until

she received the gift of the Holy Ghost!

Thank You Jesus For The Greatest Gift of All.

For TT & Gayle...

We're Singing a New Song in 2011

    Our pastor recently preached an awesome message about(you guessed it) "Singing a New Song". We are going to face the new year with a new attitude. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I'm charging ahead with a smile on my face. I hope all of my friends will join me.

   
    As for why I haven't posted in a while..... well I have been trying to focus inward and help my family to transition with all of the recent changes in our lives. "What changes?" you might ask. Well, I won't bore you with all the details, but here are a couple:

•  Husbands job has shifted(new position & schedule)
• I have recently become "Office Manager in training" for my father's/daughter's business.
• Eloise is now trying out a new on-line curriculum(more about that on our homeschooling blog)
• My parents just bought me a new cell phone/music/picture/e-mail/browser/ap/game thingy. I successfully graduated from the 2 hour "basics" course. No applause necessary.

Will post soon with pics and stuff you might actually be interested in....I promise!

There Aren't Many.....

 There aren't many occasions to dress like this in the south.

(Me getting ready to take our puppy for his 5am winter walk)

 There aren't many men who will get up at 4am and work all day without complaint to provide for his family.

(Hubby & I recently celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary, so that makes a total of 18 years that we have been a "couple")

There aren't many women who can eat a cookie off of her forehead, without using her hands.

 There aren't many young people who would take the time to mess up their pretty hair do's to entertain a bunch of old people at a Christmas Banquet.

 There aren't many gals as sweet as these.

 There aren't many brave, intelligent, & charming young men any more.

(These guys are really more brave, intelligent, & charming than they appear)

There aren't many young people who know how to go out and have good clean fun.

I am so proud of our young adults (only a few shown here).

They love God,

they love each other,

&

they know how to enjoy the life God has given them.

Love & Prayers,

My New Orleans Monday

This past Monday we attended the funeral of my husband's paternal grandfather. PawPaw was 92 years old. Born & raised in New Orleans, he had spent nearly a century loving the food, culture and music of the place he called home. It was only fitting that the hearse and limo were accompanied by a jazz band playing a funeral dirge. After the service we went to the home that has been in the family since the 1930's. The house was devastated by hurricane Katrina, but PawPaw was able to return home almost 1 year ago. We tried to maintain the original style, but at the same time make the house easier to navigate with a walker so it does look slightly different. At times PawPaw would remember, and at other times he would ask when we were going to bring him back to his house. Previous to the storm he was very healthy for his age. I suppose his old body couldn't handle the stress of being away from his way of life for two years and then coming home to a neighborhood that was nearly destroyed. When they first got back he would sit on the front porch and watch his neighbors and the traffic. He was happy to be home. He lived a long life. So many stories to tell. We learned a lot about the family history. I believe cousin Tien said that PawPaw's father and uncle spoke French, German, and English. He also said they opened up one of the very first coffee shops in New Orleans. When I'm finished with this semester I'm going to do some research for my hubby and daughter. Well any way, all things considered, we had a wonderful time. We looked at old photographs and laughed with hubby's cousins. We also did what most New Orleanians do on a Monday.....we ate red beans and rice and a whole slew of other stuff!

A Change of Heart

I am currently in school to be a teacher. One of my assignments is to establish my core beliefs about teaching and learning with the understanding that these beliefs will evolve as I gain more experience. So as I'm pondering this my mind wandered, as it often does, to the subject of Valentines day. I was amused to realize how much my thoughts about life and love have "evolved" over the years. When I was a teenager I thought the best gifts had to be big and expensive. As I sat thinking about this notion I realized that the few gifts that really stood out in my mind were actually the least expensive. One V-Day when my daughter was a baby and my husbands workplace was being sold, my husband had to be creative. Not sure where he was going to work next he had to be careful with every penny. My husband racked his brain to recall every request I had recently made(i.e...change air filters...replace light bulbs...) He also stocked the kitchen with a few of my favorite snacks. After everything was ready he took my daughter so I could relax at home and do whatever I wanted ;-)sigh......worth more than gold! Another such memory happened just yesterday. My husband gave me a goodie bag with a few little items in it, but the thing that stood out was a C.D. that was probably on the clearance rack due to it's age. When we were dating it was my favorite. I kept it over a decade, but then Katrina hit and it along with everything else was gone. My hubby had to call around to find it. It was inexpensive, but oh so thoughtful. I love that guy! I better call & tell him! Then back to my :-( homework which is how I got on this subject in the first place.