When it Rains.....It Pours

What started off to be a beautiful warm day in January in Missouri turned out to be a rotten, stinky day. Tina and I did our shopping for our second cooking session for the Friendly Freeze. Dropped everything off at the church and was feeling really great. Around 3:15 pm, the Tornado sirens went off! I went into panic mode because my boys were due home from school within 5 to 10 minutes and that meant they were on the school bus! I pick up the phone to call my oldest to see where they were when he called me! They were headed back to the closet school. He wanted me to come and pick up & Collin up! I was a little shocked that he wanted me to get out during a tornado warning to pick him up. He was fine with my firm answer. Needless to say, I got a little freaked out about being home alone during a tornado, most of the time I had one of my kids with me to snuggle up to but not this time. I had to wait out the storm all alone.

We had a nice dinner. Got everything laid out that I needed for tomorrow & headed to bed. Early for a change. I watched the new Challenge with Bruno & Carrie Anne and was getting ready to snuggle down and close my eyes when my husband and boys started yelling at me to come down stairs.....I was worried! Something had happened and I wasn't going to like it!

Well....it's 1:21 AM and since 9:30 PM we have been soaking up water with the wet vac, pulled up carpet because the sewer has backed up into our house. Water was pouring in the the sink in the boys room and we have not been able to stop the water (or sewer) from coming in! We called the sewer company and they are working on the problem. Because of all of the rain the manhole has flooded and our house got to be the lucky one that got the overflow!

I am going to get some new carpet out of this! What a way to start the new year!

Olive Leaves: A Sign of Hope

"After seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the boat, and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth." Genesis 8:10-11.

That verse was the focus of my devotion a couple of days ago. The devotion stuck with me so much that I wanted to share it with my you.

An olive leaf. A simple olive leaf was a symbol of hope to Noah and his family after the flood. It was hope that they were going to get off the boat soon! Hope to them was the olive leaf-evidence of dry land after the flood....

Don't we love the olive leaves of life? "We'll get through this together?" "It appears that the cancer may be in remission?"

What's more, don't we love the "doves" that bring those olive leaves?

I wrote in my journal that day:

"Olive leaves-thank you Lord for the olive leaves you present to me each day. Each day is a new beginning, an olive leaf. Help me to recognize the olive leaves that are presented to me each day. Thank you for new beginnings. Amen."

I thought is was so timely that I had blogged about the New Year, reading Beth Moore's blog about each day is a new beginning and that evening when I had my quiet time, was presented with the olive leaf. A symbol of hope! A symbol of new beginnings!

Thank you Lord for the olive leaf! I love olive leaves. And I love those who give them to me!

Resolutions?

Last year, I was so focused at the beginning of the year to blog about all of the resolutions and changes that I wanted to fulfill for the New Year. I started off pretty good, got several closets organized, started working out at least 3 times a week and then I was in a minor car accident which got me off track. I don't think I ever got back on the New Year's Resolution track after that accident. School started and I thought, this would be an excellent time to start working on the changes that I had set out to make at the beginning of the year. I started reorganizing the areas of the house that need touching up and did well the first month but once again, life took over and I am no where farther than I was on Dec 31, 2006!

As the New Year approached, I was thinking, once again, about what resolutions I would make for 2008 and decided that I was not going to make any resolutions for the year but take each month, one month at a time and try to incorporate one new habit. I would also spend time each day reflecting on 2007, the previous day, the previous week, or month and look for little changes that would have a greater impact on my life. For January 2008, my new habit is to have quiet time each day with God, to reflect and mediate. So far I have had some sort of quiet time for 4 days running! It always isn't the same time of the day but I am a least getting my quiet time in. Yesterday was right before I went to bed. Ideally, I would like to start each day with my quiet time but right now, I am happy to get some time with God each day.

I started reading Beth Moore's blog and I am going to quote what she said about new starts and resolutions:

"I told God this morning how thankful I was for His penchant for new beginnings. Just think about it. He's the one who came up with New Years so we could have an annual new start. But we don't have to wait that long. He also came up with 12 different months, 4 seasons, and 7-day increments we call weeks. But we don't even have to wait that long. Every single evening the sun goes down and calls it a day then greets us the very next morning with a whole new start. Let's face it. Sometimes a day's so tanked, it just needs to end. Aren't you glad a bad day always does? But, then again, we don't even have to wait till morning. Because of Christ, we can have a new beginning any old time."

I just loved that! I know that with God, anytime is a new beginning. I don't need a New Year, a new month or even a new day to start a beginning!

Here's to new beginnings! Happy New Year!

What American City Are You???

I am NEW YORK....which is quite exciting! My girls and I (and possibly my Mom and sister) will be visiting New York this summer because the girls will be going to a dance competition and clinic in New York. I am so excited about the trip. New York was always a place that I thought that I would live! Funny I have never visited New York until now! When I heard that AFA was planning on their National Competition in New York....nothing was going to stop me from going!

I will also get to accomplish one of my 40 before 40 goals with this trip as well! Visiting NY and seeing a Broadway Show! We are planning on seeing Grease and Wicked! The girls and I watched "Grease: Your the One that I Want" this past fall and casted the parts of Danny & Sandy it will be neat to see them on Broadway!

What makes me New York? I do love trying to new foods! I am very competitive and driven! Very little does shock me! I am instead convicted about right and wrong and would God be pleased!

You Are New York

Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, you enjoy the newest in food, art, and culture. You also appreciate a good amount of grit - and very little shocks you. You're competitive, driven, and very likely to succeed. Famous people from New York: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tupac Shakur, Woody Allen

What American City Are You?

What does your month say about you?

My friend, Notes from the Queen, recently posted about her birthday month & what it says about her. To find out about your month check out the link.
Here is mine:

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.