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May I vent for a sec?
Why must married men be the only ones interested in me? What in the world do they expect? Wouldn't they wonder about ME and my fidelity if I DID choose to date them? My pastor and I happened to chat about this briefly this week. I find it intriguing that anyone would consider having a serious relationship with someone who would cheat (or be the "other" woman).
I got propositioned today, and I was totally offended. How dare he think I would even CONSIDER something so...so...inappropriate? Sheesh! Yes, I desire intimacy and companionship, but NOT with someone else's husband, for goodness' sake!
(whew)
Prayer request: Please pray that I remember that I am a child of God all day tomorrow. I will need to address something that happened to my son, and his teacher is my co-worker. (Yes, I teach English at the high school that my sons attend).
I tried to exhibit restraint by NOT addressing her today, but I definitely need to have a chit chat with her soon. Please pray! This is also someone with whom I have shared my faith, and that makes this doubly tricky for me.
Happy news: Pastor had my back today, and I totally appreciated it.
More happy news: My friend is feelin' pretty wonderful after her surgery this morning!
Even more happy news: My teenage boys are actually getting along, laughing, and playing a game together. I'm letting them stay up an extra half-hour just to hear the joy!!!
Best wishes for an incredible Thursday! God bless!
Mom has given me a boat load of tomatoes and zucchini from her garden, but I'm the only one at my house who eats them.
She was proud of a particularly humungous zucchini and brought it to my house, but I didn't want anymore.
So I went on-line and found a recipe for zucchini bread - - - and it's yummy!
This is enough for 4 days' worth of breakfasts for me and my boys, but I don't think they'll last that long...I think my kids could have easily eaten 3-4 at one sitting if I had let them. I had no idea how easy it was to make such a yummy treat! :P
After work, I had a meeting with Pastor about my role in the church, and I feel MUCH better about everything. You may have noticed that quite a few of my blog entries have disappeared. That's because I have decided to erase every entry that contained even one ounce of whining.
:D
I want this blog to bless, NOT DEPRESS, people!!!!
(Hold me accountable to that, please. I'm on an "accountability" kick, and I'm getting blessed by the words of truth that my friends are sharing with me.)
I'm going to spend several evenings with some fellow Christians as we witness and pray with young people in the next few weeks. Please pray that we say the exact words God is calling us to use.
My boys will be home soon. They went to Cedar Point with their youth group, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about it! :o)
I praise God for every blessing, and I'm looking forward to seeing what He's up to not only for my life but for the lives of everyone I know! I love you, and I'm interested in your testimonies. I'm all ears!
I am sooooooooooo excited! My neice, who lives in Tennessee, will be here tomorrow!
The boys and I have been cleaning up more than usual since Mom volunteered my house for the family get-together, and I'm truly looking forward to seeing everybody.
I will have pictures soon!
I have been involved in several Bible studies lately. The first one is a women's group at M. Church; we meet on Tuesday evenings, and they are so enjoyable! There is one woman there who tries to dominate every conversation, but we cut her some slack since she is a new Christian. She doesn't know any better.
My personal Bible study time has been with devotionals from the book Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be, and it is going slowly. I am gleaning from this piece of writing, but it is starting to become aggravating to read. If I were grading her work, there would be several notes in the margin indicating her excessive repetitiveness. She literally repeats phrases verbatim several times within the same paragraph, and it's annoying. I will try to finish this book in its entirety, but I might not make it...
I returned to a Wednesday night Bible study (for FBC) this week, and it was interesting. I am currently praying about my role in this church (the one God called me back to), and I haven't heard any definitive answers yet....which is why I'm doing nothing except attending and giving my tithes/offering. We will have a special kids ministry this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening. I am NOT gifted with little children, but I offered to help oversee the games. Others will be running them, though, unless they need me to help with that too. I was told that she needed someone to simply make sure the teens were staying on task as they helped the little ones play.
I have a few errands to run, and then I'm coming home to finish cleaning. Have a happy 4th!
It seems as if I've been running all day, even though I had a bit of a break this afternoon.
Since I've been having more bad hair days than I'd like, I got my hair chopped off this morning. Don't worry; I still look like a girl. I tried to get it cut into a cute style, but alas, my natural curls are still doing their own thing. Fiddlesticks. At least I felt a bit cooler.
Then I went grocery shopping this afternoon, and I just happened to time this perfectly: as soon as I finished in the check out line at Wal*Mart, it began raining so hard that you couldn't clearly see 20 feet in front of you.
Nice.
After my second shower of the day and a quick change into a dry outfit, I went to a funeral (the wife of my friend, George), and I was a bit taken aback by the figure in the casket.
She looked just like an older version of me.
Weird...and just a bit creepy.
I met George's son and daughter (who hugged me a bit tightly for someone who doesn't know me at all). Perhaps she just saw my resemblance to her mother. The funeral home was huge, but it seemed tiny with so many people in attendance. I decided to leave quietly after noticing there were only 5 empty chairs left and at least 50 people standing.
I love to drive on the highway, so the journey home was relaxing.
My son went to the mall with me, and I decided to get my nails done. I used to pamper myself this way every two weeks, but I stopped when I got a job as a music director. Now that I won't be playing regularly, nails won't be a problem at all. Working with them is truly like riding a bike: I'm tickled at how quickly I'm typing right now. :o)
My boys did a fabulous job cleaning their bedrooms, so they'll only have to do a little bit of yard work tomorrow. After church, Shaq will trim the bushes and Jamil will cut the grass. I will be dusting and cleaning in the house since I wasn't home today (although I did get the bathroom done before I left the house this morning).
I hope all is well at your house this evening. Good night.
Didn't I just write (yesterday) that I hate walking in late for any reason?!?!?!?!
I was late for Bible study tonight.
**sigh**
I simply don't have enough hours in my day. I have not had a break from 5:00 a.m. -8:15 p.m., and I am truly tired. Thankfully, I smelled soup when I walked into the house. Praise God that my boys are old enough to scratch an edible supper together if I can't do it early enough. :o)
Here's today's schedule:
1.) Woke up at 4:00 a.m. fully intending to work out....too tired...chose to sleep an extra hour instead. (Maybe tomorrow...)
2.) Actually got out of bed at 5:00 and was on time for prayer this morning at 6:00. I even remembered to wear green for Earth Day!
3.) Left prayer at 7:05 a.m. to get to work by 7:15...but no one showed up for prayer in my classroom. That's ok; I listened to music and ended up discussing the Lord and his goodness with a teacher who heard the CD as he walked by.
4.) Graded oral presentations (on research papers) until 2:18 p.m.
5.) Went to drama club rehearsal from 2:30-5:05 p.m.
6.) Found a summer school application on-line (I could use an extra $3000), filled it out, made copies, and headed back to my room.
7.) Answered my cell phone: I was late, so Pastor wanted to make sure I was ok and still coming.
8.) Walked back to my classroom and organized (VERY quickly) for tomorrow.
9.) Went to Bible study, tried to pay attention and participate, and headed home at 8:00.
Now for #10: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(I will type more tomorrow when my brain is functioning properly.)
I just sent a prayer to someone I've never met. I hope I helped a little, tiny bit.
God, thank you for my life! There are days when I'm so dog-tired that I can't think clearly, but I know that I am still in your hands.
Lord, please bless those who feel like they only have one nerve left (and folks seem so tempted to stomp on it). Multiply the nerves, Lord! Help us to be patient with others, to forgive immediately, and to lavishly love on our friends and family! We're so quick to criticize, aren't we? Help us to be kind to everyone in our lives.
Jesus, please give your healing touch to those who are hurting physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I know I want more of you! Please be with me as I continue to plug away at all of my responsibilities. Sometimes I'm weary, Lord, but I know that you will give me rest.
I love you, Lord! I praise you for being such a loving, sovereign, amazing, awesome God! Thank you for bringing me this far, and please give me wisdom for the days and weeks to come, in Jesus' name. Amen.
This morning's prayer was incredibly encouraging for me. I was able to listen as a pastor shared his reason for being absent from a prayer group the previous evening: he made his family a priority, and he chose to enjoy some family time since his daughter was going out of town soon.
Wow.
I would have given ANYTHING to have my Dad put me first once in a while. I know that he loved me, and I'm sure that he's in heaven right now because he gave his life to Christ when I was a teenager.
Still, it would have been nice if he had shown me (by spending time with me) that he cared.
Brion is a blessed little girl to have a father who doesn't allow ministry to overshadow his responsibilities to his family.
After all, we should be able to minister to our own families before anyone else, right?
I give my boys a great deal of freedom as long as they don't cross the boundaries I've set. However, we still do things together as a family, and I'm pleased to say that my son gave me a kiss in front of his friends yesterday. WOO HOO!!!!! I was beginning to think they were choosing friends over me because they didn't want to be "Mama's boys," but I think they're simply stretching their wings a bit. In a few short years, (less than five....Lord, help me!) they will be out on their own.
What will I do then? When I'm not doing ministry-related activities or working, then I'm cooking, cleaning, fussing at them to get their homework done, etc. When they leave, that "empty nest" feeling will smack me upside the head.
Oh boy....
Instead of worrying, I'll just try harder to enjoy this time. They grow so quickly, don't they?
Happy thoughts....happy thoughts....
Ummm....
Oh yeah! School was canceled today since our basketball team made the semi-playoffs. They will hit the court at 5:15 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, and a huge chunk of our staff and students are traveling to support them. I, on the other hand, am typing this blog before getting our church bulletin done. I usually type the bulletin on Saturdays, but we have a funeral tomorrow morning. Sunday is full because we'll have our regular morning service in addition to an evening one in Alliance, Ohio.
Let's pray:
Father, thank you for such a moving, enjoyable, anointed prayer time this morning with my friends. We only gather for an hour, but it goes so quickly! I kept wanting to pray about more stuff, but I didn't want to interrupt other folks. Isn't that wonderful, Lord? We're all looking forward to time with you in prayer! :o)
Please be with the Coach, who is a dear friend of mine. He's such a sweet person, God! After the pep rally, I was rushing across the school to my classroom when someone tapped my shoulder: it was Steve! He's so excited, God, and I pray that you keep them safe as they travel this weekend. Even if we don't win, we know that you have placed Steve in the lives of these players because he is a strong role model, someone who doesn't just give lip juice but actually lives the life of a godly, friendly, kind gentleman. Be with him as he coaches the team and mentors them, perhaps even as father-figure, and allow them to be proud of coming this far, even if they don't win the game. If they are trimuphant, Lord, please don't let them come back cocky and arrogant. Instead, help them to stay humble and lovable.
I also want to thank you, Lord, for relieving the pressure I've been feeling about some personal issues. You are so wonderful! I pray for the administration, staff, and students in our school district, and I also thank you for the testimonies of some folks who were bursting to share stories of answered prayer! That's so exciting, Lord!
I love you, Jesus, and I hope you stick close to my side over the next few days. Holy Spirit, please comfort my friend who lost his mother this week. Help him and his sister to feel your peace, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Apparently a man who has attended my church thinks I'm a "babe," and he asked his mother about me. This woman happens to be a friend of mine, and she kindly offered to drive me to and from Bible study this evening.
We've been talking a lot lately, and it turns out that she and I are more alike than I ever thought possible...even down to our eccentric attitudes before we got serious about serving the Lord.
She made me promise that I'd never tell her son that she mentioned anything to me, and I did promise...but there's no harm in mentioning it here, right?
I asked her, "You mean he's not afraid of my kids? I would think men would hesitate to date a woman with two teenage boys." She said, "Nope, he's not afraid at all. In fact, I told him, 'Now you give her some space. She's been through a lot.'"
Then he asked his momma, "Well, how much space does a person need?"
I love it!
Then I asked, "D., do you know how old I am? I'm going to be 38, so I think I might be too old for your son (who is 29 or 30)."
She said, "That don't mean a thing. [insert Alabama twang] Don't worry about it. Let God move; you just be patient. You never know what the Lord has planned for you."
In the meantime, as I wait patiently on the Lord, I can't help but revel in the fact that a cute (and much younger) guy likes my singing voice and thinks I'm a... well, babe!
Ha! Ha!
The Super Bowl was awesome, wasn't it?!?!?! Although I will be the first to admit that I don't understand all of the intricacies of the game, I still enjoyed myself thoroughly. My boys didn't even seem to be very irritated because I had too many questions; in fact, they were downright gracious!
I'm feeling better, but I'm still very uncomfortable. THANK YOU, Lord, for healing me slowly but surely.
I'm looking forward to going for walks soon. No, I won't walk outside on the ice, but I need to get out of this house. I've only been incapacitated for 12 days, and I have 4 weeks to go! Man, oh man....I'm starting to feel claustrophobic.
I just re-read an e-mail I sent someone this morning, and it was horrible! I'm not even on meds right now, but I still made a bunch of careless errors. Perhaps I should proofread before I hit "send," eh? :o)
I have more peace this morning than I've had in an awfully long time. I'm so grateful to know God! I'm even more grateful that he's healing me, both from the surgery and from some very old emotional issues. I've been spending a lot of time with the Lord lately (praying, reading my Bible, listening to Him), and I can't begin to explain how he's helping me to accept who I am and what has happened to me.
God likes me, ya'll! Isn't that cool?
Even though I've been couped up in the house for two weeks, I've still had several opportunities to minister to some other folks. Isn't that wonderful? God can use anybody.
My church family has been AMAZING. My fridge is still full, and I haven't had to cook a single meal since I came home from the hospital. I made steaks and potatoes (with Laura's yummy salad on the side) to eat during the Super Bowl, but I didn't have to cook last night. We still have a humungous pot of Melanie's yummy homemade chicken noodle soup and an entire pan of Laura's homemade lasagna.
God, thank you for my friends and family! They bless me every single day! Thank you for a pastor who preaches the truth, even when I'd prefer to be "right" instead of "corrected." I'm not sure why I typed that because I've been behaving lately, but I must need to pray for myself about that anyway. I like having the last word, but the last few conflicts haven't even been confrontational at all; he simply spoke confirmation on stuff you've already told me, God, and I appreciate that.
Please bless my church family in every way this week, Lord. Watch over our young people, and keep them safe from the enemy. Allow me to minister to whomever needs a little reminder of who they are in Christ; better yet, help me to lead someone to your love and comforting Holy Spirit for the very first time. That would be awesome!
Lord, I love you with every ounce of my being (and I have quite a few of them at the moment)! You are so kind, compassionate, and forgiving; help me to be the same. In Jesus name, amen!
