Last Night

I'm getting kind of used to this going and doing things by myself. Last night I went to the Pekin Library to hear author Michael Perry speak and sign books. It was great. I sat down, pretty soon some people sat next to me and we started a conversation. There were close to a hundred people there along with the press. I really enjoyed listening to him speak and read from his books, and tell some stories. I laughed out loud many times and was very moved when he read the prologue from his new book, "Coop". I have been socially active quite a bit these last few weeks and I've been doing most of it alone. I am really enjoying it. Yes, sometimes it would be nice if someone joined me but that doesn't seem to be happening for one reason or another, which is ok. This alone time might just be what I'm supposed to be into at the moment. Who knows what might come of it. I've spent lots of time over the past couple of years asking people to meet for coffee, or meet at a movie etc. and no one ever took me up on the offer. They were/are usually to busy to spare a few minutes on me so I stopped asking and started doing without them. It opens up many new possibilities. However I wont pass up the chance to actually go out and do something with someone if the opportunity arises. My prayer is that God would continue to open up opportunites!

Come On Get Happy....

Hello world there's a song that we're signing, come on get happy. ( I can see David Cassidy singing that song now ) . One of my favorite quotes is by Abe Lincoln, "most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." So.............

Are you happy? Are situations around you bleak and looking bleaker? ( not sure if bleaker is a word but it sounds fun so I'll use it )

Why aren't you happy? Because this person did something and that person didn't do something? Because there's to much debt? Because the job stinks? What is on your list of excuses?

Here are a few things that make me happy. Sunshine, rain, cloudy days, lazy days, shopping with my sisters, going to bookstores, reading, writing, not arithmetic, putting on aprons, looking at postcards, studying the word of God, kids in general, my cat, other cats, watching people, eavesdropping on conversations, going to my favorite cafe, being single, being loved by God, going out to eat, going to movies.

Here are a few of my situations, I barely have an income at the moment, my house needs repaires, my yard needs attention, I might soon need a new car, I lost my best friend to a man, my health is not perfect yet.

And yet, I'm full of joy and happiness because I choose to not let life get the better of me.

So what would make you happy? What does make you happy?

Once and For All

Let's just settle this once and for all, God is good! I love to listen to Joel Osteen and something he said the other night made me excited in my spirit. So the next morning I put it to use. Joel said that we should get up in the morning and look in the mirror and say "good morning you sweet, favored woman of God, blessings, get ready to follow me all day long". So that's what I did. Sunday morning I posted that on my Facebook page and took it to heart. ( that's the key, I took it to heart ). I am not going to live my life thinking, "Oh one day God will decide to bless me, one day I'll be happy, one day I'll see my dreams come to pass". Oh no, that day is today. And that's not just me saying that, that's the promise made to me in the Bible. So anyway, I posted that statement on my Facebook page and went about my morning. I sat down in my chair at church shortly after worship and put my arm around my little girl and someone put a check in my hand. I didn't look at it right away but said thank you to the person and put it in my purse. I knew what it was, and I knew why I was getting it. And I just started to cry because that was a blessing that followed me just as I told it to! Through out the day I was perky. We took the kids to lunch with us and had a nice afternoon. I came home and didn't even feel the need for that typical Sunday afternoon nap. Something was definitely different about the whole day. Life is just very exciting and very interesting these days. You can always tell when God is up to something.

Taking the Plunge!

Saturday mornings I'm usually at CJ's by sevenish. This morning I was running a little behind. The toilet decided not to flush properly and my cat had taken up residence on laptop bag. In my heart I was more concerned about taking away her safe napping spot than I was the toilet not flushing. But with the hair towel wrapped around my head and wearing my bright green sweatpants and my nightshirt over them, I stood and plunged the daylights out of the throne. Flush, plunge plunge plunge....wait. Flush, plunge, plunge, plunge....GO DOWN YOU STINKING THING!! Ok, be that way, I'll just do my hair and put on my makeup while you decide what you want to do. Meanwhile the sister paces. "Did it go down yet"? "Go take a look and tell me what you think" I reply under my breath. So I sat down on the couch to reflect on how blessed we were to get that toilet a few years ago, free!! Brand new and free! So I thanked the Lord for it, and took authority over it and told it that it needed to just listen to me in the name of Jesus and go down where it needs to be! I got up a minute or two later, went in, flushed, plunged, plunged......and down it went! If I can command a toilet to flush in the name of Jesus, just think of what else I can do!! Thank God for moments like these when you can trust Him to do the little things and not just the big ones!

Friday Night Reminiscing

I have a frozen pizza in the oven, hopefully it will warm up the house a bit. I was just writing in my journal a bit ago and I got to thinking about how ever since I got on the national "do not call" list, my phone hardly ever rings anymore. Friends don't call much either. Is that true for you too? I remember just a few years ago I used to sit and talk on the phone with friends for sometimes an hour or more. People are busy. I once called someone I knew and asked, "are you busy"? She said yes she was and we never talked again. I guess the Internet is to blame for some of it. E-mail is nice, but human contact is even better. I ran across a quote today that goes, "Let's face it, you will always be busy forever, so don't allow your friends to be at the bottom of your 'to do' list".

Have I Totally Forgiven?

Have you ever listened to your pastor's message knowing full well he wrote it with you in mind? Over the past few weeks my pastor has been talking about forgiveness and this past Sunday he touched on a few points on how to know if you have totally forgiven. The points being:

How to know you have totally forgiven.
1.You don’t think about it anymore.
2.You don’t talk about it with anyone.
3.You will feel God’s heart for them.
4.You will pray for God to bless them.
5.You will no longer respond with anger and rage when you think about them.

I am ok with 3-5. But #1 I still have a problem with. I have heard it both ways, it's easy to forgive but you never forget. But wait, Jesus forgave us our sins and remembers them no more. That's what we are to do. How can I forget when I see the person every Sunday morning? I'm good to go through out the week but on Sunday's it all comes back to me.

Maybe it's not so much WHAT happened, but more the sadness of what has transpired from it all.

I wont discuss it with anyone anymore. It's old news anyway. But I guess the only one that can answer my question is God himself.

I remember years ago another good friend of mine did something behind my back ( am I a magnet for this behavior? ) that concerned another friend of mine. The difference was she owned up to it right away and made things right between us and a few years down the road we were able to laugh about it.

I think I have totally forgiven because I see in me the work God has done because of it all and I choose to cling to that instead of the negative. I think it's ok to remember so that I don't forget what the Lord has done.

A Foggy Day Question

I woke up in the middle of the night and looked outside, the fog was so thick I could barely see anything. I usually get up early on Saturday mornings and head to CJ's. That's where I am now. Vanilla Hazelnut is the flavor of coffee for today. Hazelnut is my favorite!
I was wondering, what is your favorite thing about Fall? What is your favorite color of leaf? Do you buy pretty mums to put around your house only to watch them wilt and die in the rain like mine usually do? I have resorted to buying artificial fall flowers now, they are just as pretty and they don't die!