Goodbye Mathews.... Hello Homer.

It may be a little early to say goodbye to Mathews Virginia and Hello to Homer Alaska (yes, that's right.... ALASKA!!) but I figured by the time we get around to the actual move in June, I will be running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything done.  So, I'll do it now.....

Ahhh... Mathews.  I love this little town.  I didn't think I would, but it had a way of changing my mind.  I guess it's more the people who live here than the town itself. There are a more than few people who made Mathews feel like "home" for the past 7 years.

 

Not only have we formed many friendships, we also had experiences here that we had never had before.  We bought our first house, we got to have dogs, a cat, rabbits & goats! We had incredible joy here, when Grace Christen was born! I also lost my dad, and will be forever thankful for the support network we had in Mathews.

 

I went back to work & then school! Basically, I grew up! 

 

I will be forever thankful that God placed us in the little town for such important years of our lives. I'm sure He has something special planned for the next stop on our journey.

 

 

Saying goodbye is never an easy thing to do... so for now, I'll just say see ya later Mathews!

 

 

 

 

 

I crack myself up!

In 2011 I was a stay at home mom who had a lot of time on her hands... so I blogged! 

I just spent the last half hour reading what I wrote back then & laughing my tail off.. then laughing for finding myself so funny!

Since then I went back to work full time & school full time, plus doing the mom & wife thing and I lost track of my blog... tragic really.

But guess what?  I'm no longer working... I'm back at home!  I'm sure you will all be thrilled to know that I once again have enough time on my hands to turn my every random thought into a blog post and then ask you to read it!  Exciting right?!

If you have a about 30 minutes you can go back and read the old ones... I'm sure they wont be nearly as funny to you as they are to me, but if your wasting your time online you may as well make it a good waste! 

I've gotten rather dull these past few years, time to dust off my thinking cap & start entertaining the masses again (all four of you!)  Ready or not... HERE I COME!

27 year Void

So, I haven't blogged in a LONG time... but lucky you, something stirred me up enough to make me log in and peck away.

That something is....

Amy Winehouse.

Crazy, huh?

My first impression when I heard that she was found dead was "well, that's no surprise." I quickly reminded myself that thinking that was is judgmental.. something I try to hold myself in check with:) Key word: TRY!

Anyway, trying to think of Ms. Winehouse without judging her lifestyle really got me thinking and on the rare occasion that I think I share it with all of you!!

27. That is what I was thinking. 27. Amy Winehouse was born on Sept. 14, 1983. That is 8 days before me. She is dead, why?

Why? Just because she chose a lifestyle that doesn't usually lead to long, healthy lives? Why did she choose that? Or, why didn't I?

I can tell you why I don't have to search. I am already full. I don't have to search for that one illusive thing that will finally satisfy me... HE is already there. By HIS amazing grace my 27 year old void has been filled.

We all search for that one thing that is going to complete us, fill our void. Some people fill it with a substance, trying to obtain that perfect high, for others its work, or money, or exercise, even food. Those things only last for a while & then you have to search again.

Can you imagine if 27 year old Amy Winehouse (9/14/1983-7/23/2011) or 27 yer old Jimi Hendrix (11/27/1942-9/18/1970) or 27 year old Kurt Cobain (2/20/1967-4/5/1994) or 27 year old Janis Joplin (1/19/1943-10-4-1970) or 27 year old Brian Jones (2/28/1942-7/3/1969) or 27 year old Jim Morrison(12/8/1943-7/3/1971) had filled their voids with Jesus? Can you imagine!! They could have stopped searching, stopped reaching for a satisfaction that just CANNOT be filled with any substance.. even if you can afford the best of the best.

Thank You Lord for filling my void.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?

Matthew 16:26

Thought

People see what we do....

God sees why we do it!

have you penciled in the apocalypse?

I absolutely agree that the "end" is nearer than ever before! I also believe that the beginning is further away today than it was yesterday.. duh.

However, until today I was unaware that the apocalypse has been penciled in on Saturday. This news comes from Harold Camping, who predicted the apocalypse to take place Sept. 6, 1994 but has now gone back to the drawing board and now has correct calculations.

Now, I am not mocking this man. I assume that he really believes this, even after a failed attempt. He is 89 years old... so the end is probably VERY near, for him anyway.

What I don't understand is this, he says that " A genius could not understand this because God has to open your mind to allow you to understand this."

Well I opened my mind, and my BIBLE (The WORD of GOD) and I found this:

Mark 13:32 (New International Version)

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

and this,

Matthew 24:36-37 (New International Version)

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

My Bible doesn't say "I'll be back 5-21-11" (get that Arnold dig?? :)) So I am making plans for Sunday dinner.

And if he's right? I'm OUTTA here!

The evil dieting mother!

Today I feel like an evil mother, and a fatty.

See, Wyatt (my adorable almost 6 year old) gets up really early every day. He usually gets a drink, maybe a cereal bar and watches t.v. until I get up and make him get ready for school.

Today however, he became a chef. He made cookies (he broke them into smaller pieces) and cut up a banana, an orange, grapes, and poured a yogurt into a bowl. He served this too me with a big glass of milk. He is incredibly thoughtful! But I am on a diet. I am counting calories... and I was staring at a plate full of them. So I picked at the grapes and banana and he starts badgering me, saying that I don't like his breakfast & making me feel awful. So I told him it was a lot of food & could he help me eat it. He did a little and then watched me try to eat the rest. I convinced him to let me save the orange & yogurt for a snack, and he helped eat the cookies. Ugh! I bet I ate over 300 calories before I even had a cup of coffee!

So then when I am bringing him to school I told him that I thought he should only make breakfast on weekends, when daddy was home to enjoy it too. He kind of left feeling like I didn't like it!! I tried to explain that I just can't eat that much for breakfast... didn't go over well!

I guess today I am a bad mom and a bad dieter:( Now I feel like crap because I ate too much and my kid worked so hard & I asked him not to do it again!

I love you anyway

My head is SO full of thoughts today that part of me is tempted to post a copy of Webster's dictionary on my blog because if you read enough of those words you could almost begin to put what I am feeling on paper (technically its a computer screen, not paper)... and it would be alphabetical, which is always helpful!

I realized that I am like an emotional filing cabinet, all neat and put together.. but as soon as I get a work overload (emotional or mental) the papers start falling in a mess on the floor. I loose all order and control. Papers flying everywhere and me running in circles trying to catch them while damaging the files in my attempt to catch up!

This is usually the point that I send an emotional e-mail to my mom & sister and whoever gets it first calls me and "talks me of the ledge" ... not literally, of course:)

Last night this was my sisters job. She did the same thing she always does, listens, sympathizes, gently advices and makes me laugh. Then I am magically all better and can rationally start organizing my brain files all over again! I am not even being sarcastic here, it is magic... sister magic, mother magic... maybe its only in my family! Ha ha I have a magic family and you don't! Sorry, that was bratty!

We all have someone, or many people in our lives who's mission (or so it seems) is to bring us down, step on our spirit and grind their heel as hard as they can. These are sometimes people we have to deal with daily, or often. Sometimes we "get along" with them to make life tolerable and silently deal with the hurt. Other times they are people who seemingly exist to appear every few months to ruin your life! Whatever the case, these people often hurt you and then walk away without a care until the next time they feel like stepping on you. While they get to come and go (and say) whatever they like, you are left dealing with the boiling madness that have left for you! My question is why do they get to have that power over us? Because we let them, that's why!

So last night when my magical sister told me to go read 1 Peter (I must say there is a lot of good stuff packed in such a short book!) I did & I picked a few quick points to share... they are good reminders of who and how God expects us to act! I recommend reading the whole book (its like 3 pages) because you will get a lot out of it!

1. Rid yourself of ALL malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. (Thats hard to do when "that person" gets to act on those feelings!)

2. Love one another deeply & from the heart (that is REALLY hard when your dealing with someone you don't even like!)

3. Live such a good life that even though they (someone) accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds.

4. Do not repay evil with evil, insults with insults. Be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. (Insults come pretty easy when you've been insulted!)

5. Keep your tongue from evil. (I translated that as: SHUT UP AMBER)

6. Be holy in ALL you do! (That is an ENORMOUS task!)

It goes on to talk about living NOT for your earthly desires (revenge, anger, etc.) rather live for the will of God. Why? Because we will be judged. They will be judged for what they do, and you will be accountable for what you do in return. I would love to have my revenge, but the joy would be fleeting. Facing God someday and being able to say "I loved them anyway" is a much greater joy and one that cannot be taken from you.

1 Peter 4:8 says "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a mulititude of sins."

This reminded me of a song from Sidewalk Prophets that talks about Jesus loving us anyway. Read the lyrics, if He can love us anyway.. we can love others even when they continue to hurt us.

The question was raised
As my conscience fell
A silly, little lie
It didn’t mean much
But it lingers still
In the corners of my mind
Still you call me to walk
On the edge of this world
To spread my dreams and fly
But the future’s so far
My heart is so frail
I think I’d rather stay inside
But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
How You love me
It took more than my strength
To simply be still
To seek but never find
All the reasons we change
The reasons I doubt
And why do loved ones have to die
I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway
See now, I am the man that called out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground
Yes then, I turned away with this smile on my face
With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night, I still called out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my life
You love me, You love me
You love me, You love me
How You love me
How You love me
How You love me