PHOTO HUNTER BLOGROLL

This is my second post under the heading of Faithful Fridays and I'm 2 for 2. Yeah! There haven't been any big events this week to remark about or major decisions to make (other than the hardest one - WHAT TO COOK FOR DINNER????). The fact this week has been pretty non-eventful is a statement of God's faithfulness in itself. But as I type this, I am reflecting on some of the week's activities where I have seen and heard God's hand and voice in the "small things".

• Shelby had her K4 program this week and it happened to fall on the same night as Jessie's RLC class party. I was devastated a week earlier when I found this out. I discussed with Chad and my Mom and we decided Chad would go with Jessie and the rest of the family could be at Shelby's. Mom and I felt maybe she should also go with Jessie. So, later that evening I discussed with Jessie - as I told her the dilemma, she immediately said "it's ok, it's Shelby's first program and I'll have lots more RLC parties". I was so humbled by her willingness and unselfishness in this situation. Shelby learned that not "everyone of her family" was going to be at her program and she was being rather pouty on the night of her program. So, Mom discussed with Jessie and Granny came on to Shelby's. Chad and Jessie shared time together at the RLC party. God sure has a way to use our kids to show us the unselfish nature he desires in all of us - to give up what we want for what He wants....to not keep Him all to ourselves and share Him with others.

• I have been under the weather this week and last week for that matter. My husband has been very faithful to feed the horses, which he did not know were going to be a part of our lives when he married me. Also at a low point, the other night, he took care of getting the girls bathed and in bed. Our marriage and both household and parental roles continue to evolve. I see in him a man who wants everyone to be "happy" in how he deals with us and his own family. He is the "laid-back" one and I am the uptight one. Thank you God for balance - even though sometimes I feel like my end of the see-saw is stuck way up in the air!

• Lastly, I often joke with friends that we bought our house for the land and not for the "house".....however I will tell anyone that our home was a Gift from God in His uttermost perfect timing. I can relay all that later..... There are several things that we say, "oh we'll change that one day" or "Oh, I'd love to see this...." but I'm ok with having a "work in progress". I like projects.....I like to make things "my own" and I really am ok with all of it. I will say I was really excited that our home has a fireplace....I really wanted a fireplace in our next house. So, can I say I have been waiting for the night we would build a fire and snuggle in the living room? You can imagine my surprise when I came home Wednesday evening and Chad had built a fire!!!! After dinner, I curled up in the floor in front of the fireplace and that's where I stayed - yes I slept half the night on the floor in front of the fireplace! He also built a fire last night and I curled up down there again - but I did go to bed at a decent time. It's a silly little wish, a wish that came true...there may be a million others that don't and at least a dozen that didn't come true with this house....but this wish reminded me God cares about the small things....even a wood burning fireplace. Now if I could just change that green tile around it - LOL! I just had to say it..... Thank you God for showing me that in my love for projects, that I am a project of yours. I, too, am a work in progress. If my house were perfect, where would be the appreciation? If we had been created perfect, where would be the appreciation.....for what we were, what we are now and what we will be one day?

So, I'm reminded of another song from my childhood..... Hope you have a great weekend!

He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be.

It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me.

There really ought to be a sign upon the heart,Don't judge her yet, there's an unfinished part.

But I'll be perfect just according to His plan

Fashioned by the Master's loving hands.

In the mirror of His Word reflections that I see

Make me wonder why He never gave up on me.

He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray

Remember He's the Potter, I'm the clay.

Strokes

We made it to church today, in spite of running later than normal. We made it to church in spite of both adults, er parental figures not feeling well. Once at church we made the drop-off rounds and settled in "our seats". "Our seats" is just a reference to general area of the balcony where we like to sit and is in close proximity to the door. Also, not chosen to enable us a faster exit at the first sign of boredom or our toes getting stepped on, but only to be close for when we leave to make the pickup rounds. Pastor Kevin began to speak from Proverbs and was speaking on relationships. Thru my stuffy head, I heard him say - "all relationships will have strokes" and he repeated it several times and asking the congregation to agree that all relationships will have strokes. I sat there trying to figure out what he meant by that and started quickly pondering the cause & affects of a stroke and was trying to sort out what relationships and strokes have to do with each other. Still puzzled, I conceded to move on and was shortly met with the fact that my stuffy head had muffled the sound of Pastor Kevin's voice. I soon realized he was saying "all relationships have struggles" NOT strokes. Ok so mystery solved - right? Well, while I was trying to sort out relationships having strokes - I came to a lot of conclusions about the impact a stroke would have on a relationship and decided to come home and look into it further. A stroke is defined as a blockage or hemorrhage of a blood vessel leading to the brain, causing inadequate oxygen supply and, depending on the extent and location of the abnormality, such symptoms as weakness, paralysis of parts of the body, speech difficulties, and, if severe, loss of consciousness or death. Step outside your own relationships with your friends or spouse for a moment and ponder with me if a "stroke" happened in that relationship. Something happens - a fuss, a fight, hurt feelings and they go unrecognized or untreated. The tension builds and builds with no where for the anxiety to go that is building inside you or between the two of you. This is creating a blockage in the relationship and preventing the relationship from flourishing. The blockage exists until one day you overflow with emotion, a hemorrhage of sorts..... The hemorrhagic event results in more hurt feelings, sometimes irreversible effects, sometimes side effects that will linger throughout the rest of the relationship....there may be weakness and vulnerability, there may now be an emotional paralysis or physical paralysis where you are unable to reach out or be reached, there may be speech difficulties making communication next to impossible.....there may even be death...death to the relationship. I'm sorry to say I've experienced a stroke before in a relationship....many of us may have. There's also a lesser form of stroke called TIA for Transient Ischemic Attack. This occurs when a blood clot clogs an artery for a short period of time. This is sometimes called a warning stroke. The symptoms are much like a major stroke, however, they last for a shorter period of time. Are you having TIA's in your relationships? Can you see any of these signs?.... Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body Do you find yourself growing numb to the fusses and fights? Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding Do you feel like the world is passing you by and no one cares or understands? Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes Having trouble seeing how things are going to get better? Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination Just don't feel like you can go another day, take another step, go this alone? Sudden, severe headache with no known cause Pain just too great to bear any longer? Can you head off a major stroke by knowing these signs? What will you do? Sometimes a medical doctor will put a patient in therapy to recover from the effects of a stroke...sometimes prescriptive medicine is required which is usually a type of blood thinner to keep clots from reoccurring. If you've found yourself thinking about a relationship you are in or have been in, has it had a stroke? I'd ask you to think.... Do you see warning signs? Do you want to keep it from having a stroke? What course of treatment is right for your stroke? Will you make a full recovery or find yourself in the same situation again? Will therapy or counseling help you recover from your stroke? Can you be treated preventively with "blood thinners" - will you allow "blockages" to be removed, tear down the walls, open the veins of communication and let the flow resume? I know we serve a mighty God who in Him nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26). Let him take control and be the great physician. Grab hold of your faith.....for with "faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain 'Move from here to there' and it will move'." and "NOTHING will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20). God can give you the strength to make a full recovery, to be healed and fully restored, to make you a new creation in Him. His word also instructs that we are to "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:18,19). With His commandments he provides us the tools to execute those commandments - not like buying an assembly required entertainment center from the discount store and opening the box to find no instructions and no idea on where to begin. In 2 Chronicles, chapter 7, we are simply told if we will humble ourselves, pray and seek His Face...He will heal our land....His eyes will be open and His ears attentive to prayer made in this place. How amazing is that ....we hold the key to our healing and restoration in our own minds, words and prayers? We have step by step instructions and know the end results....pretty simple or is it? Can you humble yourself to ask for help from the Great Physician? Can you swallow the medicine? Can you perform the therapy? The health of your relationship, your happiness and hope - depend on you!

Faithful Fridays

Won't promise I'll make this a weekly occurrence but will try if for no other reason than to remind myself of God's faithfulness, goodness and grace. So, here's my first log in the heading of Faithful Fridays.

• God has been extremely faithful to me and my family in many areas. Most recently is in the area of my employment. Went thru merger at one company and knew my job was going away, went to company down the road, struggled thru some initial hardships and now going thru another merger. Job is secure during this merger and have been given some assurances of that. Have seen friends come thru this triumphantly, as well, and we will stay a "team" for the most part while adding new faces to our teams.

Thank you for your unconditional love, even when I am not as loving. Thank you God for your mercy when I know I am not as merciful with others. Thank you God for your goodness when I am not so great. Thank you God for your faithfulness even when I am not as faithful. Thank you for bringing me up in a Christian home, where as I child I learned these words....

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong

They are weak but He is strong

Yes, Jesus loves me - Yes, Jesus loves me - Yes, Jesus loves me

The Bible tells me so.

Thank you that not only does your word tell me of your love for me, but that you SHOW me all the time, in so many ways and in so many places.