No Title Needed

Its been 3 months since my last post, SO much has gone on...

1. Went home last month and packed up our place in NY for the official move to SC! It is scary and exciting at the same time. Although we've always had visions of moving south, I never thought it would be so soon with all that we had going on at home. I guess God had other plans!
2. We officially joined the church we have been attending here in SC (www.valleybrookoutreach.org). We really love this church, they really love the Lord, the Pastor and congregation is VERY supportive and although its a big church by Albany standards (about 1000 members) its still small enough that you don't feel lost. There are some wonderful and exciting things going on at this church and I am so honored that God though enough of us to have us be part!
3. My mother has completed 3 chemotherapy treatments and so far, no major issues! God is so awesome and I'm still trusting Him for her healing. Shes been a trooper through this whole thing, at 72, I hope I have 1/2 the strength she has.
4. All my friends are in some form of transition. Either spiritually, professionally or personally. I know that God is up to something big.
5. My nephew passed to GA real estate exam with flying colors! He's so smart and when he really puts his mind to things, nothing is impossible for him.
6. My sister had her thyroid removed in October. She was diagnosed with Grave's Disease over a year ago and they just could not get her thyroid under control. I'm believing God for her healing also.

There are so many other things going on, some of which since they are in their infancy stage, I am not willing to reveal. 2008 is going to be such a TREMENDOUS year, I can't wait!

So Many Changes

So many things are changing these days, its hard to keep up!

1. My husband is here with me in Greenville and after us living in seperate places for a year we're having to get re-acquainted with each others. Morning routines, nighttime rituals, quiet time, remote control (its should be remote control "control"), me not eating cereal for dinner, dog walking, the list goes on and on. I can say that I am SO happy he's here though, I didn't realize how much I missed him.
2. Friends moving - a friend of my cousin is moving MANY miles away!! Although I've only known here through my cousin over the past maybe 15 years, she is such a great person and a good BF to my cousin. I KONW its going to be a huge adjustment for both of them.
3. My cousin has a new man who makes her VERY happy! I think there's wedding bells in the air but she's trying to not freak me out so she's trying to be cool about it! I love how happy she sounds when I call her and how excited she is when she's going to see him.
4. I'm transitioning - we are seriously considering a move to SC which would mean new church, new chapter in our lives and walk with God and new church family. That's a whole blog unto itself.
5. Friendships - many are falling by the wayside, old ones are being renewed, others are being changed.
6. LAst but not least - my relationship with God. I've had to learn to trust Him in some PRETTY major ways over the past few months and He has shown me how TRULY faithful He is and how much He loves me. He's preparing me for something big!

I wonder if anyone else feels the change!!!

Becoming my Mother

My mother came to stay with me this week and I believe its the first time that the two of us have been together without a houseful of other people around. I've come the very scary conclusion that I am becoming her!!! Examples:

1) we're both animal lovers but VERY partial to dogs. Anything that has to do with dogs causes us to stop WHATEVER we're doing (it could be driving down the street!) to look at, pet, talk to, comment on the dog!
2) related to point one: We both TALK to these animals! Not only do we talk to them, we prefer talking to them over talking to humans. There are times when people are around, we're talking to the dogs, people are asking us what we said and we respond "I was talking to Bernie or Pickles". My mother is the ONLY person who when I talk to the dogs doesn't say "huh" because she KNOWS I'm not talking to her!
3) we prefer to eat dessert BEFORE dinner. Twice this week we had ice cream THEN went and had dinner.
4) we tend to buy very expensive stuff for others but will relentlessly peruse the clearance racks for ourselves.

This list can go on an on.... On a positive note, I don't mind becoming my mother, she has to be one of the coolest people I know! I love you Momma!

All Down Hill

Food that I ate today:

Breakfast - bagel with cream cheese AND butter
Lunch - ChickFilA chicken tenders and fries
Dinner - Wendy's chicken sandwich, fries

Why is it that once you start off with a bad high carb meal, it just goes DOWNHILL from there??

Oh well, there's always tomorrow. WHOO, I'm tired, guess the carb coma is coming on!

Father's Day

My dad has been gone for over 10 years. Some years I can breeze through Father's Day and be ok, other not. This year, God has been dealing with me in certain areas, and grieving and letting go is one of them. I needed to grieve and let go of my dad, as well as the two babies that I miscarried. Well ironically enough, today's message at church was "The Turning Point", scripture reference Deuteronomy 1:5-13. Pastor Johnson preached about being in a place for so long that you become that place (spiritually, emotionally, physically) and that its time to turn from that place and take your journey.
So God spoke to me today and showed me that:

1. If I stop grieving my father, I will not be "leaving him" or forgetting about him but I will be freeing myself to begin to celebrate him and the relationship that I had with him.
2. I have a father in heaven who will not leave or forsake me.
3. My babies are with God and when I get there, they will be there waiting for me and will know who I am.
4. Both my earthly father and my father in heaven are happy and rejoicing that I am beginning to take my journey.

Needless to say, today was a weepy day but I am ready to turn from this mountain of grief and take my journey. As long as I listen to the small still voice inside of me, I will be ok.

Happy Fathers Day Daddy and Abba!

Running Away

In the past week, both ofmy dogs have gone on the lam. Bernie the Beagle is a escape artist, and I always fear that I'm never going to find her again but as luck would have it, she always winds up in someone's house. They see her on the side of the road, take her in, then its my job to find which house she's in and bring her home.
Tonight, Pickles ran away. I always tell everyone, he's so good in spite of his size, that he listens better than Bernie and he never wants to leave my sight. Well tonight he was out in the backyard with Cory, Cory comes in frantic looking for his leash which let's me know that Pickles is on the run. I quickly dress and go outside, certain that he's gone no further than the next door neighbor's house. 15 minutes later, still no Pickles. Now you have to know that Pickles is (1) a staffordshire terrier and (2) he's grey so we're looking for a big gray dog in the dark. Of course I was crying and making all types of promises to God because I can envision my dog either (1) shot by some person who is scared of him or (2) getting hit by a car. He has NO street savvy, and cars mean nothing to him. Thank God I found him, looking scared, lost and thirtsy in someone's backyard.
I say all this to say that I can totally related to that brief moment of freedom that they must both feel when they on the loose! I think every now and then we need to all cut loose, take off the restraints and just run free BUT always remember to come home. I think that we spend so much time tied up, tied down, and restrained by things/people/situations that we all need to be free, even if its only for 15 short minutes.
Needless to say, I'm glad I found him, otherwise, I'd be writing about my stay in the psych ward!

Say Yes!

Wow... So I went home this weekend, to see my husband, to see my friends but mostly to support my kids in the Youth Ministry. This is the weekend of the youth participation for Pastor's Anniversary. I am SO happy that I pressed on to go home, despite several obstacles (AMEX issues, work issues, etc). My kids, who are SO insightful and anointed, danced to Shekinah Glory "Yes". Its not so much that they danced to the song, but they put together, on their own this whole skit which was just so powerful that it left us all speechless and had us all questioning things that we had not said yes to, things that God has asked us to do that we've put off until the time is right, how we treat others who don't "fit the mold", how we are being called higher and sometimes settle for just getting by, how God's time is not the same as our time and how most times we "rush" a process when God has clearly told us to wait. The moving part of this dance/skit was that they had kids depicting this whole church scene, complete with choir, pastor, deacons and deaconess but they also had the people who we sometimes get annoyed with in church because they're loud, rude, talk at the "wrong time" (what is that anyway!) or just don't look like us. But as the skit went on, these were the people who said "yes" to God's will and answered the call. WHOA!!!

So in honor of my kids at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Albany, NY (who I love dearly and miss more and more), I'm going to say Yes to a few things that God has called me to.

1. forgiveness
2. ridding myself of pridefulness, boasting, insecurity
3. distrust of God to take care of me financially and believing that I have to do it all my own
4. pressing forward regardless of who/what I have to leave behind
5. believing that God is who he says he is and that I am who God says I am
6. few other secret things that I'm not ready to make public at this point!