God whispers in my ears...

When we go through difficult times in our lives it is so easy to get lost in the feelings of hopelessness and wonder why God had decided to abandon us in our time of need. God can and will speak to us during these times, but we don't always listen and we don't always hear what it is that He wants to say. We shut Him out and continue to feel like we are alone and barely surviving.

Each of us find His comfort in different ways. Last Sunday for example, I spent the church service in the nursery serving the toddlers. Heath tried so hard to tell me how he had heard from God during the service and I just couldn't relate to his passion. He even brought home a DVD video that was shown during the service, so that our family could be comforted together by our Loving God. I'm sure Heath was disappointed that none of us were as uplifted as he was.

Well, today was my turn. Now as I share my story I don't expect for you to feel the same comfort that I was feeling at that time, but I would ask that you open your hearts and minds to know that God is speaking. So today I took Heath to work since we only have the one car and I needed to do some shopping. I was looking for a specific store that was not where I thought that it should be when a song came on the radio. Now first of all, I was listening to a radio station that I rarely listen to and driving in a car that I rarely drive these days and was stuck looking for place that didn't exist on the road that I was driving up and down. I think that God was trying to get my attention. The song is by David Crowder Band (which I absolutely love!) The name of it is "You Never Let Go."

When clouds veil sun

And disaster comes

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

When waters rise

And hope takes flight

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

Ever faithful

Ever true

You I know

You never let go

You never let go

You never let go

You never let go

When clouds brought rain

And disaster came

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

When waters rose

And hope had flown

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul

Overflows

Oh, what love

oh, what love

Oh, my soul

Fills hope

Perfect love

that never lets go

Oh, what love,

oh, what love

Oh, what love,

oh, what love

In joy and pain

In sun and rain

You're the same

Oh, You never let go

I sat at the red light with my eyes full of tears. With every "Oh, my soul" I could feel the Holy Spirit caressing my very being. I knew that God was speaking directly to me. There was such a sweet peace and such an intense feeling of not being alone. It had been a long time since I felt this feeling, but it came with a sense of familiarity about it and I knew that no matter what happens in the days to come He will NOT let go of me. Not only will he not let go, I know that He is surrounding me and encompassing me in his blanket of compassion and mercy. I don't have to get my brain around it anymore, because now my heart is completely enveloped in the warmth of his goodness and grace.

Please find a way to hear this song, I know that it is on You Tube. It just might change your life and/or at the very least surround you with a presence of The Most High, The Lover of our Souls.

Tag, You're It!

So, I didn't get to do the blog that I wanted to do last week due to our computer still being with the geeks, but as soon as it returns home healthy, I will let you in on my thoughts of my boys getting a year older.

In the meantime...

My long time friend, Wendy, has tagged me. Wendy and I and our families have known each other for a really long time considering her family is a part of the network of churches that my grandfather oversees, but several years ago we became friends. I count Wendy as one of my lifetime friends. We don't see each other often because of the distance from Chicago, IL. to Huntsville, AL. but keeping up with each other's blogs is the next best thing. I would encourage you to also check out Wendy's blog.

Ok. so I have been tagged, so I have to share with you 7 random or wierd facts about myself.

1. Everyone knows by now that I was born with extra organs and missing an organ. (if you don't know ask, I even have pictures.)

2. I love to watch the sky. I love the pictures that God paints for us every day from sunrise to sunsets. I love the way that the clouds move and how everytime we look at the sky the earth has moved just enough to give us a whole new look. I Adore Sunsets and will sit and stare at the sky until the las bit of light is gone (when I have that kind of time, which is rare.) My husband likes to tease me by saying that if I die before he does than he would be moved to tears everytime he looked at a cloud.

3. My favorite aisle at the grocery store is the one with the detergents and scented candles. I am one of those people that open every bottle of laundry detergent and smell it before I buy the usual.

4. I can drive all night long and not get sleepy, but driving during the day makes my eyes so heavy.

5. I am constantly saying random things like (I think the best back up singers would be the ones that sing the last word of every line in the song.)

6. As a kid, I was always hiding in the closet or under the table w/tablecloth. I once sat under the table and listened to my mom call my name out the front door over and over. Not because I didn't want her to know where I was, I just needed alone time. (When she started calling my full name, I quickly came out of hiding.)

7. I don't eat leftovers. Some how my mind says to me, once we have had a meal for dinner it must be retired until it is made again fresh. There are two exceptions to this rule. My mom's recipe for Broccoli/Chicken/Rice casserole and Thanksgiving Turkey.

So, there ya go me in a nutshell. Now I will tag 7 of my blog friends. Well, I think I will go with 7 family members.

1. Lindsay my step sister

2.Angie my sister

3.Karston my son

4.Philip(Pa Pa) my father in law

5.Tarah my sister in law

6.Heath my husband

7. Rachel my step sister's sister in law (yes she is family too)

My apologies, Life just won't slow down...

I apologize for not posting latley, we have been so busy and at times have had to borrow other computers. Our computer was having a simple issue of not holding a charge because the cord connection was too loose. So Heath decided that he would try to be the "Geek Squad" himself and took the computer apart. When he was putting it back together I heard him say "I don't know where these four parts go." Uhg! We finally got it all put back together and the original problem had not been repaired. Heath is taking the computer to the Real "Geek Squad" today.

To be honest though, it is not Heath's fault I haven't kept up with posting here. I have had to take care of my son that did not feel well and my other son that was having sympathy pains and was feeling a bit lonley without his brother and best friend to play with.

We have also had some car issues this week, the house needs cleaning (desperately) and we have just needed some stress relief so we had movie night at Heath's parents house.

This week will be busy too with Cub Scout meetings, Heath's men's meeting, Teacher conferences, a birthday party, Boo Camp, a party for Heath and I (ha ha,) and then ending with a special visit with some new friends and my Grandfather that is coming up from Florida. I may not be on top of the blogging world, but I will post a special blog about my incredible sons' birthdays later this week. Be sure to check back on Friday or Saturday.

costume ideas...

Last year for Trick or Treat, Alyssa dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake. Every house we went to immediatley recognized her as Strawberry Shortcake. I loved it!

But this is a new year and we have several options. I know that there is going to come a year when she gets to decide what she wants to dress like, so I am trying to dress her up now as things that she would fight me on later. One day she will want to be a Disney Princess, or maybe even a cute animal or Dora the Explorer or a variety of other characters so I want to stay with the classics that she wouldn't necessarily know or care about. I was thinking of making her the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker, but that is the same costume as a ballerina which she could one day want to be on her own.

So I have a few choices that I am thinking about. One choice would be a classic Southern Belle. I like this option for a couple of reasons, it is dressing in a very fancy dress, and because we are no longer in the South I may never see my little girl as a true Southern Belle so it would be nice to play Southern Belle dressup. The problems being that the fancy dress, hat and parasol would not only be hard to find but could get expensive, although I'm sure I could get creative and put something together on my own that wouldn't cost any more than the boys costumes.

My other choice is one that would be very easy to do, but may not be recognizable right away. Every time someone sees my daughter for the first time I ALWAYS hear, "She looks just like Shirley Temple."

I think that I would put her in a sailor outfit and give her a fake Lollipop as a prop, from the Good Ship, Lollipop. This one may be the easiest one to do, but may not be as recognizable. It's a toss up.

So I have decided to put a poll on my blog and have my readers vote on what they think would be the best option this year. You can vote for one of my ideas or you can choose the option "I left a suggestion in your comments," and then leave a comment on this blog telling me ideas that you may have that I can also do. Have fun voting! (voting closes at 8:00am on Oct. 20th)

By the way, I did not mention my boys costumes on purpose. They have already decided what they want to be so when we get the costumes perfected and adorned, I will take pictures and share them here.

It may not be Wednesday, but it is Wordless...

33 years ago today God created a man...

MY AWESOME HUSBAND is celebrating his 33rd birthday today. With everyday that we live I love this man more and more. Often times I wonder if it is possible to love him anymore than I do right then and then come to find out that it is.

Heath you and I have had our ups and downs and hard times and good times, but even in the most difficult down times, I never stopped loving you! Everytime that I tell someone our story of being destined for each other since birth, I realize agian how much God brought us together and destined our lives to be together forever. There isn't any one in the world that knows me like you do. I love you for all that you are, all that you have been and all that you promise to be. I love that no matter how wonderful I believe that you are, you are always striving to be a better husband and a better father to our children. Your faithfulness and your integrity have been what drew me to you, but your authenticity and big heart have been what drives me to love you more each day. I don't tell you enough how much I love you and appreciate you!

Looking forward to celebrating with you tonight!