The Wrong door

As I watched from my kitchen window I observed my neighbors cat sitting by the door of our outbuilding. Granted our outbuilding looks like a 'mini house' with a front porch and rocking chair and even a door mat. It's easy for that cat to believe that someone lives on the other side of the door, but no one does. That cat was sitting there in vain. The cat was waiting for someone to open the door to let him in or better yet feed him, but I knew it would never happen. Don't we act like that cat sometimes? We sit and wait by a door that is not the right one? We think that what we need is on the other side, but it's not. We think if we wait long enough someone will open the door for us. Sometimes we feel like we have all of the answers and we know what is best, but we are told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

You know what that tells me? We can be fooled like that cat or we can seek God's will by reading his word. He will teach us, train us, correct us so that we will be able to do a good work. I am so thankful for the Lord's love and for giving us His Holy word to guide our steps. Have you been sitting outside the wrong door? If so go to His word. It's never to late.

Happy reading.

Happy Valentine's Day early

I hope you and yours have a very Happy Valentine's Day weekend. One of my favorite Bible verses is 1 John 4:11 "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." Simple isn't it?

Think for a moment of those who may be getting ready to go through their first Valentine's day without their spouse or family member. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 5 to honor our widows. If you know someone who is alone this Valentine's day send them a card to let them know you are thinking of them. Invite them out for a meal or drop off a dessert or a flower. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We can't go wrong with the Golden Rule.

Many blessings and thanks for your continued support of Chris's Thailand trip. We are getting closer to the goal. God bless you and your day.

With Love,
Susan

What's in a word?

What do you think of when you hear the words "Valentine's Day"? Love, hearts, candy, flowers, cards, jewelry, romance? Or maybe it's a day you dread and would rather not be reminded of. If that is the case let me help. We need to have realistic expectations about Valentine's day. WE do not live in a "TV world". If you view Valentine's day from what the TV says, then we'd all be tall and blonde wearing a tiny black dress in a over-priced restaurant, with our tall, dark and handsome man who would give us more than a dozen long stemmed roses and a huge diamond. After the meal we'd get in a limo, no a convertible sports car and drive to private beach where champagne, strawberries and a fire would await us, blah, blah, blah you get the picture???? Wake up ladies and gentlemen, WE, yes you and me, live in the real world. Let's face it there will be no little black dress, no over priced restaurant, no jewelry, no convertible and no fire by the beach. I'm going to get up on Valentine's day make breakfast for my family, enjoy the card Chris picked out for me and eat from my box of chocolate that he usually buys me. That will be it. BUT you know what that will be perfect, yes I said perfect. Because you know what? I love Chris and he loves me. You see we can't let the "unrealistic" stuff on TV belittle the precious thoughts and kind hearts of those we love. Chris had the oil changed in my car this week, that tells me he loves me. He goes to work every day and allows me to stay home and blog :-) that says, he loves me. He puts up with everything about me, the good and the bad and that says he loves me. He prays for me and that screams he loves me. Forget the stuff you see on TV ... TV isn't real. You may say; Susan me and my spouse plan to do all of the stuff you wrote about, hey that's great. BUT for the rest of us especially you girls who are home with kids, don't beat your guy up if he doesn't go overboard with stuff. Love him for taking care of you. Love him for loving you.

Ok, that's my Valentine soap box. Comments are always welcome.

I'm off to the school to volunteer. I get to help in art today and I am very excited about that :-)

Go bless someone.

Mission trip contributors

I'd like to take a moment to thank those of you who have contributed to Chris's trip. You don't know how much your out pouring of love and generosity means to our family. We feel extremely blessed. I just want to publicly post your last name to say thank you. We have several families who have pledged amounts that they plan to give and we appreciate your support as well. I made an adjustment to the fundraising thermometer to accurately show the amount of money given to the church and Chris so far. The money I subtracted from the total is pledged money (I will add it as it comes in) that makes my records and the church records equal and less confusing. Those who know me well, know that math wasn't my best subject so I need to keep things as simple as possible. LOL

THANK YOU FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR INVESTING IN THE LORD THROUGH MY CHRIS :-)

The Boiter family
The Gowan family
The Wilde family
The McBride family
The Neal family
Granny Quinn
The Ford family
The Pitts family
The Duggins family
The Gosnell family
The Anderson family
The Welch family
The Lankford family
The Fowler family
The Georguson family
The Sinderman family
The Hennecy family
The Crocker family
The Loyd family
The Brendle family
Uncle David Neal
The Johnson family


Blessings to you all.

Monday, Monday

What a day it has been... to start off Chris's brake lights went out in his truck this weekend. I followed him to the garage and dropped it off earlier. Now he is in my vehicle and I am stranded at home. Don't get me wrong I am busy and have tons to do, but it is the week of Valentines Day and I have much to shop for in the way of Olivia's school party, teacher and friends. I'll be volunteering 3 days this week and I have a repairman coming one day so ... time is of the essence. I figure I'll make the best of it and get more accomplished than I planned. The Lord knew I'd be "stuck" home today so I am trying to be wise with my time.

On another note I forgot to bring the camera Friday when we went to our friends to play with their new Wii. We had a FANTASTIC time!!! My arm was sore Saturday morning from playing. They have 4 controllers (I guess that's what you call those things) and we all bowled and played tennis, fishing, target practice .... I can't remember all the stuff we did. All I know is I want one :-) I think it is great exercise. My daughter asked me if we could start a Wii fundraiser? the innocence of children :-) As much as I wish we could do that, I explained to her that it was not appropriate to ask for money (the Mission trip is the Lord's work). Well, she said we could share the Wii with our friends. Kids .... you gotta love them.

Well, I'm off to be productive. Have a blessed day.

It's Friday

For some reason this has been an extremely long week. I am glad it is Friday. Last Friday we had some friends over for dinner. It was nice cooking and preparing and enjoying their fellowship. Tonight we've been invited over to some other friends house to play their new Wii. Olivia and I are very excited about that. I'm not sure what games they have, but I know it will be a night of fun and laughter. Chris will probably be the one laughing at me. I'll be sure to bring the camera for pictures of our silliness. After a long week it's nice to have fun with sweet friends.

I hope that you will have a great Friday and a blessed weekend. No updates on Thailand. We're just thankful for all that has come in thus far. Happy Birthday goes out to Uncle David :-) Chris' uncle in Florida is still doing well from his open heart surgery earlier this week. Say a special prayer for him today as he is turning 66 ( I believe).

God be with you.

Answered prayers

"I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me."Proverbs 8:17

"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."John 14:21

"Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart."Psalm 37:4

"Just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.""1 Corinthians 2:9

God's word is faithful and will never let us down. Meditate on His word and he'll reveal himself to you. I have been praying about some things and today the Lord has given me an answer. I have to say it's not the answer I expected, but His ways are better than mine. As the old hymn goes, "Trust and Obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

Update: Chris's uncle is doing great from his open heart surgery. We couldn't be more pleased. God is so good. Also Chris is still receiving funds toward his Thailand trip and is closing in on the goal. We feel so blessed by the outpouring of love and generosity. Praise the Lord, he alone deserves all the glory.

I want a real snow day :-)

According to my computer the outside temperature is 19 degrees right now. That is cold ... I heard on the radio, 106.9 The Light about the snow and ice they have in Asheville this morning. It takes no time to drive up there; if it were Saturday we'd go. The pictures I dug up from back in 2006 and posted today are examples of just that. It was March and we had not had any snow that year so when we heard of a good snow in Brevard we loaded up our sled and headed for the mountains. It was a fun day of sledding and goofing off. We went to a quaint looking public school parking lot and enjoyed the big hills. Some of you may be thinking why not just plan a "real" ski trip and go to the higher elevations for your fun? Well, that takes time, money and planning and we are sometimes fly by the seat of our pants kind of people. Why not drive a short distance, enjoy the snow and then come home (it's free and really all the snow we'd care to be in). Oh well... can you tell I'd like a little snow? A girl can dream.

Have a blessed day.

Updates

Hello again, I just have to praise the Lord for the great report Chris's uncle David got on his open heart surgery. He had 5 by-passes yesterday and is able to sit up and eat today. That is an answer to prayer. Thank you.

I just received word that some money was sent to the church for Chris's trip. He is getting closer to his goal. Thank you for your support.

Love is in the air ......

Don't you just love February? I do. It's the month of love. I have always been a big fan of Valentine's day. Growing up as the only girl with 3 older brothers and a daddy who loved me the most :-) (just kidding). I have to say next to my birthday, Valentine's day was the best. My dad always bought mom flowers, candy and a card; which a husband should do for his wife :-)LOL. But dad not only remembered my mom, he always bought me a box of chocolate too. He started out buying me small boxes of chocolate, but as I got older the boxes of chocolate got larger and fancier. He was the best dad. Oh, how I miss him. Fast forward 13 years and Chris is the one buying the chocolates now. In the same sweet fashion as my dad, Chris buys Olivia her own small box. It's not the 4 little pieces of chocolate that matter or even the design on the outside of the box, it's the heart of the man giving the gift. It's the Love that matters. So the next time you think that "little good deed" won't matter, think again. When we act from our heart the love will shine through no matter how "small" the action.

Jesus tells us to love one another, to love our neighbor. In this month of "LOVE"; let's try to practice what Jesus taught us.

If no one has told you today, let me be the first to say; I love you with the love of Jesus. I pray for my blogger friends daily and thank you for reading.

Pray with me today.

For some reason I have been struggling with what to blog about this morning. Usually a story comes to mind that I want to share with you, but today my thoughts are focused on my need to go pray. My heart is heavy with some decisions that I need to make and I don't have a clear answer from the Lord. I am not ready to share my requests at this time, but if you'll pray for me I'd appreciate that. Thank you.

Also at this very moment 9:47 a.m. Eastern time; Chris's uncle David is having open heart surgery in Florida. This is his second open heart surgery. Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom. Pray for uncle David to have a successful procedure and to heal quicker than imagined.

Continue to pray for Chris and the Thailand trip. He is excited and thankful for your support. Pray for our Olivia at school.

One of the best things we can do for each other is to pray. Let us pray now for one another.

"My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken."Psalm 62:5-6

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay."Habakkuk 2:3

If you have a need you'd like me to pray for you about, please email me. God be with you today.