Mini-Tornado 2009

Ok so yesterday was quite eventful! To say the least! The Lord decided I didn't need quite so many trees, and to send my husband a wake up call that he should NOT put things off. LOL. We experienced a tornado. Of course, the meteorologists say it could have been micro verse winds (does anyone know what the heck those are?) which were responsible for the demolition and destruction. YEAH RIGHT! At any rate, the back end of my husband's tahoe was demolished, my three-tiered planter crushed, and 3 trees put to the ground. See all the loveliness below!




















So a friend came and sawed up the trees, while another friend moved them out of the way with his tractor. In the meantime, my good friend Bri calls worried asking if we needed help. I am so grateful for our friends. The old saying is true that good friends are worth more than money. So a little shout out to Bri and her sweet dad for offering assistance. Thank you guys!!! And a special thanks to Mr. Charles, Tony, Linda, and my mom for all the help. I couldn't have done it without ya'll!

But the best is yet to come because no one was hurt. My mom, who lives next door and had 2 trees twisted off and her willow tree uprooted, was fine. My husband, who was at work the whole time, was ok. My puppies and myself were all ok, as were the rest of our friends and family, so folks, we are still blessed. Wrecked tahoe, holey yard, broken planter, and all! I'll take all that anyday over injured friends and family.


Today, I was very successful. I finished writing a huge letter of complaint, scheduled my appointment to become an AVON representative (anyone need anything, call me), and reassured everyone that we are truly ok after yesterday. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but considering I am a goof off, it is. I am so excited about selling AVON. It will be some extra income and I will get to meet new people. Maybe I can be a positive influence on others.

I am also excited about this website I found. It is called Christian books. Basically they sell Christian Music, Books, Teaching Materials, etc. at cheaper prices. I bought 5 books for $24 bucks plus shipping and handling. One of the books was $1.99 so that was a great deal. You can get almost anything on there. From Bibles to fiction to clothing, they have it. As always, the link is at the bottom of my blog page, so check it out. It's great!

Everyone have a wonderful day!

God, Worry, and Commitment

Ok, so I am back and better than ever. Whereas yesterday I was down in the dumps, ready to cry, and kind of depressed, it turned around today. Ok so all day I worked in my house. I ironed, dusted, swept, changed sheets, hung up clothes, etc. You get the idea. I did the housewife thing. I worked all day minus the hour and a half I watched my soap, The Young and The Restless, and I Love Lucy. Even during the episodes of I Love Lucy, (she kills me), I accomplished a registration I needed to take care of online.

Ok moving on past the shows. I worked and worked to take my mind off my troubles. My troubles (which I won't go into because even though they are a big deal, I have given them to God now and so I am not going to worry myself to death) were weighing heavily on my mind. I was just plain good and old fashioned mad. My pride was injured and I was mad. Not a good combo. So I worked because that is the best way to get rid of negativity. It didn't help. I was still depressive (is that a word?). To explain how bad it was, my mother called wanting to know what we would have for supper, and I was just blah. I didn't care. No food interested me, which is highly unusual as I LOVE food. I LOVE to eat, as is evident by the fact that I maintain rather than lose weight.

I went to dinner, came home, mopey and tired. I looked on my coffee table and saw the book I started last Friday, after the trouble began. I decided to finish it, and even though I was all but almost through with it, I found the last part just spoke to me. The whole book (It's All About Him by Denise Jackson) was about Alan Jackson's wifes quest to have a closer relationship with God and the trials she faced in her marriage. God took those trials and made the negative into a positive. I was so inspired that I just cried. (Ok I'm a crier so that's no big thang, but still) Because at the end, one of the last chapters which is entitled Drive, she tells how she finally begged Jesus to take the wheel of her life. How when she was so low because her marriage was in shambles, she cried out for him to be in complete control. How she had had the Lord in her life, but that she always wanted to be holding the wheel so she had some control. I just cried, because folks that is me!

I am such a little control nut. I admit it freely. I cannot stand to not have some semblance of control in my life. From finances, to cooking, to always having to drive the car, etc. I always want to have some control. I know a lot of people are like this, but sometimes, I am just desperate for control. It drives me crazy with worry to not know what is going to happen. I realized that this is a HUGE GENETIC ISSUE IN MY FAMILY. Us women in this family are like that. My mother is a huge worrier, and my grandmother is the grande dame of worrywarts. Now I like to think that the worry gene has decreased through the generations, but I am not so sure.

At any rate, I digress. I am a worrier, but today I just gave it to God and said you know what, I cannot worry about this and be upset about it, because if I do, I will be crazier than I already am. LOL. I am recommitted to improving my spiritual life. I am recommitted to God and my relationship with him. I LOVE God and I know that I need him to be in control. I can't do it all and even if I could it would only be because he gave me the strength to do it all. I am so blessed. I have a beautiful home and family. I have phenomenal friends who lift me up when I am down (thank you to Bri and Jessica and Vicki). I may suffer trials and tribulations, but God will always always ALWAYS see me through and carry me when I cannot walk. So, I praise Him today and everyday. Thank you Lord for all my blessings and I beg forgiveness for my sins and shortcomings.

Just a little shout-out...I highly recommend Denise Jackson's book. It is so inspiring and not just another celebrity biography. Trust me, you will find it very uplifting.

Finding Contentment in Discontent

I read a blog last night that got me to thinking. Ramblings of a 30-Something Year Old Carolina Girl wrote how she had been more content when she wasn't focused on losing weight. I thought about what she said and realized this could apply to many things. For me, it's not only losing weight, but also my quest to develop a closer relationship with Christ. Before I began worrying about losing weight, I didn't know care how detrimental my eating habits were. I ate what I wanted and said what they hey, I'll worry about it later. Now it is later and I have been trying to do better.

Before I began trying to gain a closer relationship with Christ, I didn't worry over the little details. I figured as long as I went to church and paid my tithes and did good deeds and prayed occassionally and read my Bible occassionally that I was a-ok. Then a few years ago I realized it wasn't enough. I started trying to bring myself closer to Christ. I started by doing more volunteer work at church and praying everyday. Then I moved on to reading His word more. So on and so forth, and I have been working on doing better.

What I realized after reading Carolina Girl's blogs is that I was content in my naivete because it is HARD when you care. When you care, it means more when you screw up. Before I tried to move closer to Christ, I went through life pretty happy moving from one day to the next, never worrying whether I was a good Christian, because hey I did good deeds so I was good right?. Now I worry about disappointing Him and failing in His eyes.

Take today for instance. My big boss is a complete and total piss-ant. You know those annoying little black ants who bite you and it stings. Ok that's him. He sends this email today which was totally crabby and directed straight at yours truly, moi. He has been on my case for several weeks now and it is really old with his attitude. It upset me so badly that I dropped the f-bomb and of all things, the gd-bomb. I normally do not say that word. The f-bomb can be found in my vocabulary even though I know it is a horrible word, but I do not say "gd". Even I have my standards ;-) . Afterwards, I felt absolutely horrible for letting Christ down by taking his name in vain. I felt bad and dwelled on that in my mind all day because last night I had a long talk with God and promised to try to be a better person, not that I'm bad by many peoples standards. I felt all day as if I had broken my promise and let him down, which I had.

I dwelt on it and Carolina Girl's posting while I was driving home (this is when I think). I came up with this. I must be doing something right in my quest for a better closer relationship with Him if I worry over saying one bad word all day, granted it was the MOTHER of all bad words, but still. In the past, I would have felt a twinge of remorse but today I felt truly remorseful and repentant all day. To me, this means, Christ has worked in my life and my heart to show me what ways are His and which are not.

So as a recap because I rambled in the middle. I struggle with my weight, bad words, and being a good Christian. Because I care about these things now, I am not content to go through life doing them half way. Even though I am often times less content than I was before I cared about all these things, I have realized that my uncontentedness (I think I just made this word up, but you get the idea) is better than breezing through life because I am more concientous of my health, both spiritual and physical, which by improving these things, I will improve my life in the long run.

Have a great and wonderful night!

Westerns, Love Stories, and Cold Weather

Today has been a quite frigid day for the middle of May. Usually here in the South, we deal with drought and humidity round about this time of the year. Or at least the beginnings of them. I woke up this morning and smelled bacon frying. My wonderful husband had gotten up before me (I love to sleep and today was NO exception) and was frying bacon. It smelled wonderful. I was burrowed down in my bed with my covers all around me and my Pug (Buckley). My hubby, Robert, comes in and lovingly tells me breakfast is ready. I got up and took my breakfast out on our front porch to admire the beautiful morning creation. And folks let me tell you something, it was COLD. The wind was up and it was quite brisk. I immediately took myself back inside and changed into my fleece pants and long sleeve shirt. Then I finished breakfast.

My husband and I have been married for a little over a year now, and things are better than I could have ever imagined. We have had our issues as any married couple has, but we love one another so much. I am so blessed to have him for my husband, and I can only pray he feels as blessed as I do. We enjoy doing many things together and separate. One of our favorite things to do together is watch movies. We like all kinds, except I detest with a capital "d" horror films. I can't stand anything that scares me so badly I can't sleep.

We both are into westerns. I love the ones that come on Hallmark channel. He likes any and all westerns. To him, John Wayne is the epitome of bad-assness! lol. I am especially addicted to the western love stories which are adapted from the books of Janette Oke. (Just an FYI, if you are interested in buying any books at a cheaper price, go to the bottom of my page and click on the ALIBRIS link) I think that is her first name. It is called the love series. It has Dale Midkiff in them and the first one has Katherine Heigl. There are probably 7-9 of these movies and all of them are about finding love in the west and learning to grow in the Christian faith. These are great wholesome movies, and I just love how the characters continue to love and trust God even though they have hard times to deal with. It helps strengthen me when I feel down and alone. Well thats about all I have for my thoughts today.