God and worship

Wow what a week! After last weekends stress God gave me such a nice week...thank you Jesus.



So the highlight of my week...I got to attend the WinterJam concert with our Youth group...I don't usually get the chance to do these things but what a great opportunity. To attend a great Christian concert for only $ 10.00!! It was truly an awesome experience. Hubby unfortunately couldn't go...couldn't find anyone to watch the boys so he opted for me to go and he and the boys had a Star Wars night together instead. I am thankful....I have a great hubby who realizes when I need some time for me. Got to hear bands like Newsong, Hawk Nelson, Steven Curtis Chapman and this great guy.....Jeremy Camp!!

If you haven't heard this young mans music...you MUST!! He is one of my and hubby's favs...and I actually got to meet him!! One of my best friends (actually its the mom of the twins I watch) stood in line for me so I could meet him and get his autograph. How cool is that! I got to watch his concert AND meet him too! He put on an awesome concert...his first song was one of my favs off his Restored album "Lay Down My Pride". Love his music and his message...awesome performer. If you have the chance to see him in concert...GO!!

Steven Curtis Chapman was awesome as well playing one of my favs of his "Magnificent Obsession"...so love that song. Missed hearing Sanctus Real play, but Newsong was really good too. Hawk Nelson was a bit different for me...definitely geared more towards the (dare I say it) younger crowd...but I got more blessing watching those teens jump up and down in the name of Jesus...it truly warmed my heart.

Ironically, we had a missionary speak at our church yesterday and he touched on the subject of music. He was once a Pastor before becoming a full-time missionary and he talked about one of the saints in his church who commented to him about how she was bothered by the guy who played guitar in their praise team, how he wore jeans...and not only that, they were torn. This young man was a new christian and the Pastor commented to her about how moved he was by the way this young man was worshipping...tears in his eyes, playing his music with such passion...and the comment he made to her was this

I mean no disrespect...but you were concentrating on the wrong thing.

WOW!! I wanted to hug this man...this seems to be a silent undercurrent in our church is the music...and being on our Praise Team it can be frustrating...if I let it. Not enough hymns, too many hymns, music is too loud, need more upbeat music, music is too fast, never a happy medium. Now I like hymns...even myself who doesn't care much for country type music can tolerate a little southern gospel now and then...why do we think that the music we worship to in church is all about us?? And who is the judge that says only hymns can be used to worship God?? I'm sorry but even though I wasn't totally into Hawk Nelson at that concert and it may not have been totally my type of music I like best, you can't tell me that those teens weren't worshipping God to that music. I think Satan uses this debate to his advantage to put a wedge between the generations at church and the sad thing is that some are too stubborn to see what he is doing. In my opinion I don't care if you bang on a tin can and sing off key...as long as in your heart you are worshipping and praising God...that is all that God cares about. And yes we as a church body we may have to be tolerant of a hymn, a contemporary Christian song, or even a little southern gospel...all for the sake of worshipping God and for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, it's not about us anyway right?

Sorry about that....I'll get off my soapbox now. I'm just so glad that there are so many ways to praise and worship our King?? What is your way to Praise and Worship Him???

Snow...finally and God is SO good!

We finally got some snow yesterday...about 5-6 inches to be exact...here are a few pics of us playing in the snow with the neighbor girls.

First of all I have to say what an amazing God I serve...He is so AWESOME! Saturday we went to see Kevin's step-grandma in the nursing home. She isn't doing so well, having some trouble breathing, so we went up to visit...we haven't seen her in several years. We had a very nice visit and was very pleasant. We then went to hubby's Uncle's house for dinner. Also very nice. For our trip I allowed the boys to take their Gameboys since I wasn't sure what we would run into and I wanted to keep the boys occupied while we visited Grandma...I told myself that I would make sure I knew where they were at all times (we had already lost one Gameboy in the last year...not wanting to lose another). To make a long story short, when we finally got home Brennan's was missing. And to make matters worse his was in the case that held all the games...which I didn't want him taking in the first place. Needless to say I was devistated...hubby was very upset...made for a bad night. I cried to the boys...I was so disappointed in myself...I wasn't so much upset about losing the system (though there was plenty of $$ lost in that), I was much more upset at myself because I felt like I let my boys down. I was pretty sure I walked out of the nursing home with it, but from that point I had no clue what may have happened to it. I cried that night...I cried when I got up that morning...then found out I had to lead worship...I honestly wasn't much up to it and even thought of backing out of that...but I trusted God to get me through...I told the Pastor about my situation...I know it sounds stupid, please pray that my son's gameboy is found, but I believe God hears all our prayers, petty or not. I prayed during Sunday School, I went to the altar to pray during worship...I just prayed that God would just hear me...well when I got home after church I was still downhearted, but felt uplifted being in church. When I got home my boys greeted me with "Mommy...it's been found...it was at Daddy's uncle's house." I was so happy...I was praising the Lord all over the house...I was so thankful...God does listen to a broken heart...and yes my heart was broken...any time I feel like I let my boys down my heart does break. Thank you Jesus for answered prayer. Now the system isn't back in our hands just yet, but hopefully when we go back up in the next couple weeks it's soon be home safe and sound. Still not sure how it ended up in hubby's uncle's house, but I just praise God that it is found. God is SO good!

Hope you are having a happy Monday!

Tag I'm It...Six Weird Things About Me...Plus a Layout To Share

(THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the "six weird things about you" blog post. People who get tagged need to write their own six weird things post and state the rules clearly. At the end of the post tag six more people and don’t forget to leave a comment on their blog to tell them they have been tagged and tell them to read your blog.)

I was tagged by Jada's Gigi to do this happy ditty so here I go I guess...be warned...are you sure you REALLY want to know???

1) I like to drink dill pickle juice from the jar...grosses my boys an really grosses my hubby out. Besides just liking it I in all honesty get a huge kick out of it just because it grosses them out....makes the juice that much sweeter I guess :-)

2) I don't know that this is weird or not but I am a handy woman...I probably use the tools in my hubby's garage more than he does....I don't mind getting dirty...I used to love playing in the dirt as a kid...I would help my dad in his home electronics repair business as a kid...I love to fix things or make home improvements.

3) I love to repeat the lines from movies...I pretty much have the whole Cars movie memorized...I will burst out into a line from a movie out of nowhere at just the right moment...I honestly just can't seem to help it.

4) I am a rhymer...I will make up little songs with my boys on the fly...kind of like that Wayne guy on "Who's Line Is It Anyway"....my boys love this and get in on it too....another thing that drives my hubby nuts.

5) I used to be big into those "carpet tracks"....when we were living in our apartment (prekids of course) I used to be pretty anal about those just right carpet tracks...luckily in this house there is only one bedroom where there is the type of carpet that can have carpet tracks...all the rest of the carpet in the house is berber carpet...and I'm happy with that.

6) I can't do my dishes without playing music...just gets me motivated. I truly feel lost without my music. Thank God for the new MP3 player!

So....since I'm not sure if there are even six people who read my blog...here is the deal...if you have read this and have a blog...well....TAG YOU'RE IT! Let me know so I can read your responses OK!!

So here is a layout I made of my youngest about a conversation we had this past summer...he was trying to hold me back with his "forest"...as many of you know my boys are BIG into Star Wars. I laughed so hard at this conversation that I had to scrapbook it...very simple layout I know but at least the memory is preserved.

Have a glorious day!

Had to share this...

Saw this on the internet tonight...goes against my word this year Organize...but it was so cute I had to share it...I think I may hang it up in my craft room...that place is hardly ever clean...in fact its a bit messy tonight...I finally finished a Disney mini-album (pics later) listing each of our top five favorite things about Disney. It's pretty basic, but at least I finally have something that commemorates our trip!

Had a nice nap today...been vegging out most of the day...love having this kiddos home...tomorrow is the last day of their "mini" vacation.

Well hope you had a nice Sunday

First Layout of 2007 and plenty of Randomness

Finally had a chance to work in my craft room today....though I have been extremely tired today, it sure did feel good to get in there and get ink on my hands....nothing like creating something to make your spirit sing! So here is my first layout for 2007: Scrapbooking this page was somewhat theraputic...as many of you know Tigger passed away the day before Thanksgiving this past year. I just had to do a layout of my favorite pics of him while we had him. I sure do miss that furry guy. It's amazing how God places people in our path for a reason...even those four legged people :-)



Well I have to get some dinner made and do my weekly run to Wal-mart tonight. So do you have a special pet or had a special pet that God blessed you with?...if so share your story here!



Also here is something to go with my "word" this year...ORGANIZE....



or·gan·ize (ôr'gə-nīz') Pronunciation Key v. or·gan·ized, or·gan·iz·ing, or·gan·iz·es v. tr.
To put together into an orderly, functional, structured whole.
To arrange in a coherent form; systematize: organized her thoughts before speaking.
To arrange in a desired pattern or structure: "The painting is organized about a young reaper enjoying his noonday rest" (William Carlos Williams).



Will be using that in a layout somehow...got my book yesterday too...enjoyed it so much from the library that I had to purchase it...I truly recommend it...I am determined to be organized this year...this book has already been a help and can't wait to read through the rest of it.

Downloaded my first bit of music for my new MP3 player tonight...So this is what I downloaded:

Chantal Kreviazuk ~ Little Things & Surrounded...found both these songs from watching Dawson's Creek...love her voice.

Heart ~ Alone...A Classic from my 80's days...love love love to sing to this one. It was a must have.

Jessica Andrews ~ I Will Be There For You...Another song I originally found on Dawson's Creek, though I think it is also on the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. Beautiful and one of the few country songs on my MP3.

KJ-52 ~ Life After Death & It's Pronounced Five Two...my boys like KJ and I don't mind him either...think he's pretty cool being a Christian rapper of sorts...his lyrics are inspirational and not only that it's good music to clean to ;-)

Michael Brandmeier ~ I'm Alright (Help Me)...another shameless song I heard on Dawson's Creek...sad I know...so very sad.

Natasha Bedingfield ~ Unwritten...I LOVE THIS SONG!! Love the lyrics...the beat...I knew when I got my MP3 that this would be one of the first songs I'd download...great meaning to this song.

Paul Colman ~ Holding On To You...great Christian upbeat song...it "rocks the flock" as I say. Love it!

Rihanna ~ Pon De Replay...downloaded for the main reason of being a cool upbeat song and great to workout/clean house to...gets me motivated!

Tonic ~ If You Could Only See...nice 90's song that I would have loved to have seen Chris Daughtery sing on American Idol...he would have nailed this one...no doubt.

Can't wait to get them on the MP3....



Found this on the internet tonight...http://www.disneytravelagents.com/dreams/site/html/may07time.html ...oh my goodness....would my boys not just love this!!!!! OK...hoping my hubby can get the time off and that the money tree grows really fast out back ;-) This would so be a blast!

Have a great weekend folks...may God embrace you with His splendor this weekend!

Tired...

Rough night last night...youngest got up about 3 a.m. and stayed up for about two hours. Oldest had a bad dream about 3:30 this morning and literally was screaming at the top of his lungs because he was so scared...woke up the whole house of course...caused the middle brother to literally pee the bed (they sleep in bunk beds and if I would have been sleeping above him I probably would have done the same thing!) So had to wash the sheets and scrub the bed...babysat a little this afternoon...just couldn't get motivated to clean house. Later I made dinner and helped hubby with his little side business of cleaning and detailing cars. Cars are his passion. So I was out there in the garage in the freezing cold...surprised my fingers can move to type, but I actually do enjoy helping him with the cars. It gives us at least something to do together. And makes us a little extra $$.

Again I was going to scrapbook tonight, but I think I'm nixing that...maybe tomorrow...going to take a hot shower and crawl into my nice toasty bed since Winter has finally hit Ohio...finally. Not that I wanted it to show anyway...we just had a dusting on the ground this morning. I'm good with the snow now...Spring can show up at any time ;-)

Have a great week!

Life...

Well I hope your 2007 is going well...It's hard to believe that we are already in the 9th day of this month...time flies.

Been doing very well with my Bible reading in a Year challenge. More than halfway through Genesis...I have so enjoyed it. Though I usually read my Bible daily, it's usually just a few verses here or there...I have njoyed going through the stories again and just really getting into it.

So, on one of the blogs I puruse (Ali Edwards) she challenged us to come up with one word to be the word we carry with us all year...me being me I couldn't just come up with one so here are mine:

Organize ...this is the year for organization for me...I NEED to do this...Not that my house is in bad shape, just for my peace of mind I NEED to do this.

Change...I know this year is going to be a year of change for me...I'll be turning 40, Colton starts school in the fall and I'll be without children at home for the first time in many years. Not sure where life will lead me and where God will lead me.

Reinvent...I feel along with Change that I'm in the process of reinventing myself. Finding out my purpose, why God has me here, find peace and joy...I'm excited and scared all at the same time.

On other things...I'm sort of struggling with one of my boys and his ability to focus...he lost all his recess yesterday and just having a very hard time staying on task. He has the same problem at home too...always has in a way. Not sure what to do...I'm very discouraged. He's so sweet and loving, just very laid back...which at times can be frustrating. Just praying for strength and that somehow we get through this together.

Got my craft room somewhat cleaned last night...I can see my table! First time since before Christmas...It's a nice feeling. If I wasn't so tired I'd go scrapbook right now, but I think bedtime is calling.

On that note I think I'll close for now. I hope you are having a good week!

Happy New Year....

Sorry I've been gone a while...holidays overtook me...literally I think. So busy, but I had a nice holiday despite it all. Here are a few pics from the holiday: The boys after their Christmas play at church.



Here is one of my favorite gifts from Christmas from my hubby: A Samsung YP-Z5 MP3 player. LOVE IT!!! I have used it every single day since I got it and have already over 500 songs on this baby. I love that if I want to play my Christian songs I can play all those, if I want to play my classic rock, I can do that...all from this little tiny thing! And I can hook it up to my new under the counter radio/cd player so I can jam to it when I do the dishes...sure makes that chore much more enjoyable! I also got a beautiful tanzinite necklace from "my boys" that have three little diamonds on the bottom of the heart...love that too.

Also did you notice the new banner on top of my blog??? Hubby also got me the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 that I've been wanting like forever. Now I can enhance my photos and make things like the cool banner on this happy blog...silly thing took me all day to make, well honestly it took me more time to figure out how to get the silly thing on my blog than to make it...though I know a little about HTML code, it's still somewhat greek to me...but for now I like it and until I create something else...but at least now I know how to insert it once I do make a new one!


Well I hope your holiday was a good one. It was hectic going to all the families. Now I'm in the process of getting life to a somewhat "back to normal" state...it's a slow process, but it's truely getting there. This is the year of truly getting organized. I don't make new year's resolutions....more like to do lists is my thing. Organization is top on my list this year. Also on the top of my list is having a closer relationship with my Lord and Savior. I feel like 2006 was an up and down year...not feeling as close as I should. This year I've decided to rise up and begin reading my Bible and join some of the people in our church that are reading the Bible in a year. I didn't do it last year, but this year...this is the year...so far so good...I've gotten through to Noah so far ;-)


So the reason I haven't been on here, other than being very busy....Christmas, New Year's, getting the kid's back to school, church work, cleaning up Christmas and organizing, eBay, helping hubby with his car cleaning side-job and other distractions...I just have been too tired and haven't had much to honestly say. Now that things are starting to calm down a little I feel a little more relaxed to be able to think...funny how the holidays does that to people. I think I'll add that to my to-do list for 2007...better prepare for Christmas.

Well I know that's not much, but I've been fighting a headache all evening and I think I just may induldge myself with a warm bath...sounds good!

Hope all is well with you and have a blessed 2007!