I survived...

 the 6AM board meeting yesterday without dropping the presentation and having to hunt for it again.  Whew!  Thank You, Jesus!  Yes, I really did pray about it before (and during!) the meeting!  He likes us to ask for the 'little things' as well as the 'big things'.  He is a good, good Father.

In fact, that song has been going through my mind this morning, the one by Chris Tomlin (I think) about a Good, Good, Father.  I really like the one by Crowder that is a bit more peppy and I had that one going through my mind as well.  "Tell me, is He good? (He's good!) Tell me, is He God? (He's God!) He is, Good God Almighty!"  Love it!

Uh oh - my day isn't starting well - I chipped a nail!  Gasp!  I will overcome!

Been busy somewhat already this morning.  Waited until hubby left then put a load of my clothes in the washer.  He hates it when I wash my own clothes!  He says that 'his job' - well, he doesn't do it often enough for me, and although he will 'plan' on doing the laundry probably tomorrow (Saturday), it takes him all day to do just two loads.  So I can do two loads (dark/light) and have dried, folded, and put away in the three hours he is gone on Friday mornings.  Which is why I always hold my breath when he starts talking laundry cause I'm pretty sure I can do my own.  I never have that much; I never go anywhere.  I've even washed my hair and took a shower already this morning!  Granted, I did skip some things this morning in order to do this, but ... I got these done that needed to be.

YAY - first load already in the dryer, second (and last) load in - and it's only 7:05a.  And I fixed myself a bowl of cereal while I was in that area.  You needed to know that - right?  I'm hungry!  LOL  I'm busy today - got to take hubby to go see Dr. Mark - and yes, he said he was going to use the walker to go into his office.  And I'm going to tell on him for NOT using it any other time!

Yesterday I had to take off work early to take hubby over to the dentist office. Actually, I didn't HAVE to take him to the DENTIST, but I wasn't sure how he'd be after sitting in the chair for three hours getting temporary crowns on his two front teeth that had cracked (I told him I think he cracked them one of the times he has fallen).   I was told to call the lab in Tempe on Monday to schedule going down for him to get the shade right, then we go back a second time  to confirm the shade, then the Dentist will put them on for him.  Might go down Wednesday morning since I am already off work, and we won't be leaving until about 1-ish to head to Overgaard.  (I dropped him off at 3p and he wasn't ready until 6p!)

We headed to Master Taco after the dentist office for I was really hungry - and I cleaned up my plate!  It really tasted good last night!  A granddaughter invited us over for a late lunch/early dinner on Sunday for my birthday.  Yes, I will be getting a year older.  Proud of it.  Think about what the alternative is.  Stay at the same age forever or gain another year?!  I can't snack or eat while wearing the invisalign liners and they are difficult to get out (or I just haven't gained that expertise) so I don't snack.  The only thing I can have with them in is water.  So after I eat my cereal, drink my tea (already had a cup of coffee), I will be brushing my teeth and snapping them back in.  Maybe I can actually lose weight because I can't snack!

Hubby won't be visiting Chuck today (who isn't doing well at all) but has gone to his bible study and then will go get his Lupron shot before heading home. He was concerned about getting back in time as we need to leave by 11a to get to Dr. Mark's by 12p.  He's got a biopsy scheduled on a mole.  He was telling me I had to go to Ironwood to pick him up in case the shot runs late.... I told him no, he had plenty of time to get the shot and get home.  So he left angry at me cause I wasn't going with his decision.  Now you watch.... they will run really late (as they always do) and I will have to run down and pick him up and head on to the doctor's office!

I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach again - I filled my bowl up too high with cereal (who can resist the frosted shredded wheat?) .... I don't think I can eat them all now.  Oh well.  Probably shouldn't anyway.

Psalm 71:1 (NKJV):  In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame.

How much do you trust God?  Many of us would immediately respond with "I trust Him with all my heart!"  But in reality, do we?  Really?  It is one thing to 'say' we trust Him, but does our heart agree with what our mouths say?

As I pause here and think about that, I want to say that Yes, I put all my trust in God.  He has never failed me, why would I not trust Him?  Does He answer every request I've made - no.  Does He even respond with an answer when I ask?  Not usually.  So why do I trust Him so?

Because He is God and I am not.

There doesn't have to be any other reason, does there?  He is my Creator; He created me in my mother's womb.  He caused me to breathe when I was born.  He walked with me through many trials and tribulations as I was growing up; He never left me, even when I had turned away.  He had to turn away for He cannot look upon sin (remember, He turned away from Jesus on the cross because Jesus carried all our sins to the cross on His  shoulders!).  He has never left me alone.

And He won't leave you alone either.  He may - or may not - answer the prayers you pray in the way you ask.  It isn't that He is 'picking and choosing' which ones He wants to answer.  He knows the outcome of those answers and knows what needs to be done.  He does work in mysterious and miraculous ways!  I've seen Him do both!  

But the best thing that God has done for me, is that He chose to save my soul, rescue me from the depths of hell, and set my feet on His solid ground. Hallelujah!  It doesn't mean my life is perfect, by no means!  But I know that if God loves me enough to rescue me, then He loves me enough to walk with me through any trial I face.  He is my strength, my shield, my all in all.  He is my TREASURE here on earth.  My God has cattle on a thousand hills; He can easily take care of whatever troubles me today or any day.  Yeah, He's that good.  And He loves me.  And He loves you.

My friend from work called me yesterday and she is planning a 'glam evening' for several women and invited me to come.  It's in October, and I will need to get a hotel room (she lives in Chandler), but I really want to go. Of course I will probably have to take hubby since I want to stay overnight rather than drive home late, but that's ok. Not the first time, and probably won't be the last. He stays at the hotel.  I'm getting pretty good with navigating myself around anywhere (thanks to GPS).  But it will be a fun time and I get to be with my friend, and other women.  And a weekend getaway for me and hubby.  

Speaking of 'getaway' - we start vacation next Wednesday!  And, in talking with Sue yesterday about the book I read the other night, you know the one where I realized that making my own decision to quit working may not be the plan God has for me, and that I need to keep working until He tells me "you are done'.... I've decided to take more time off work - perhaps only a day here or there, but I think my biggest problem is that I am getting burned out - not so much with work as it is with sitting here at the computer five days a week, with interruptions from hubby every single day, and just not having any time for just me.  I don't know what I'll do on those days, but it is something I am going to be thinking about.

And in thinking, I need to get off here and get to work - have meetings to schedule. Ugh. This one has people in central time, and eastern time, and I have to schedule the people here in MST.  I do not like time zones when it comes to meetings!   Anyway - got to get off here -

Praying for you, that the Lord will bless you today in ways you could never expect.  Be watchful; He is working in you and around you.

Blessings!

Did I really think....

 that I would be more alert today than yesterday?  What was I thinking?  We got to bed about 9PM, which is later than our usual, but not bad... at 9:30PM my watch was going off... I looked to see what it was and it was a call coming in from our neighbor across the street.  I had to think about it - then understood why she was calling... hubby had left the garage door up again.  So I got up, shut the garage door, then came back to bed - and couldn't get right back to sleep.  Finally did, and then, of coures, I struggled to get up this morning.  Missed the 4AM wakeup again, but got up before 4:30AM.  Hubby got up about 5AM and I was getting ready to run out the door to the gym for my workout.  At least with having an appointment, it makes me go to the gym!  My arms are mush!  

Hubby just left to meet a friend for breakfast, then he will go get his workout.  I had a talk with him last night about our trip.  I just flat out told him it was noticeable by others that he is struggling to do normal things.  He will talk about the same thing several times.  He is much slower moving about.  Seems confused about what is going on at times.  His eating is moreso what I noticed this weekend.  I told him he shocked me, as he was 'out of control' on Sunday.  For breakfast he had fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and about 6 strips of bacon - his plate was piled up.  THEN he ate a whole bagel with a pack of cream cheese on each part.  Then when we stopped to grab lunch at Subway, he got a footlong chicken teriyaki sandwich, chips, and a drink.... and ate a large Payday and asked for a large Snicker too (I refused him the Snicker!). He never eats like that - a plateful of food, yes, but two hours later eat a foot long sandwich? Never.  I told him it surprised me.  And I told him as well that his mental capacity is scaring me, for I don't know what to do.

I'm going to change our diets, for one thing.  I've been reading 'The Mind Diet' which is a combination of the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet.  I've heard more and more doctors share that eating the Mediterranean Diet is more healthy than most other diets.  Anyway, of course I have a book, so was reading on it last night and am really going to try and watch what we eat.  I need it as well as hubby does.

Work was horrendously busy yesterday - got through all the emails and was super busy all day.  About 3:15PM I felt like I was about to crash (I had worked straight through) so I decided a short nap was due - laid on the bed and crashed for 30 minutes!  Took me another half hour to finish up on things and shut down for the sya.  I need to get in there in the next couple minutes and get started on today's work.  Still had some leftover from yesterday.  Another busy day ahead of me.

I am off work this Friday... ugh.... I'd rather work.  Colonoscopy time is almost here.  NOT looking forward to it. But since I've met all my deductibles... need to get everything done this year that needs to be done, right? It doens't cost me anything - or very little - because my deductible has been met. Justa few more weeks, though, and I'm off for 6 work days!  Whoo hoo!  I wasn't looking forward to it so much before, but now, I'm so tired, I just want to do nothing for awhile and regain my strength.  Changing my diet I hope will help.  And continuing to work out.

I guess I'm not totally back in sync yet, and I apologize... but I have 3 minutes to get signed on my work computer so need to stop and get to the back room.  

Hope you have an amazing day -

Blessings!

So glad the weekend is here.....

 although it will be a somewhat busy one.  Today I have to work, of course.  I have a meeting with my boss at 8AM, but other than that, it will be just scheduling meetings as usual.  UGH.  Hubby asked me AGAIN last night if I had the board meeting scheduled.  sigh.  erase. erase.  This is exactly why I can't tell him anything.  He will hound me.... and it has nothing to do with him.  

Tomorrow I have a 5K to walk.  When the office first put out the American Heart Association walk and encouraged others to join 'our' team, they said it could be virtual.  I can do virtual.  I do not want to drive downtown with a crowd of people and walk.  I don't care if they are my work friends.  No one is walking with me and hubby would never 'allow' me to drive alone there (nor do I want to).  So I joined the team and specifically told them that I would be doing it from here.  So I need to check on when it starts in the morning and get my butt moving out there and walk the 3.1 miles.  Hopefully it will be another beautiful morning and I can get out and enjoy the fresh air.  Hubby will probably start with me, but I'm sure he won't be finishing with me - and that's ok.  I can be alone with my thoughts, sing songs of praise, and do some extra praying.  I love my times outside alone with God.

Sunday I speak at the RV park, as I've mentioned before.  I have the message put together, but am still going through and making changes.  I did a 'run through' yesterday and decided it's too long, so started taking things out.  Need to review again today and do a re-type so it's readable without all the cross-outs and arrows.  Then I'll retype it tomorrow and see how it goes.  God's got this.  I want only to give Him the glory and give people hope in Him.  The message is about are we living like Jesus.  I confess, I still need a lot of work in that area.  My mouth, and some actions, can get me in a lot of trouble.  Notice I didn't say Living FOR Jesus...... I said Living LIKE Jesus.   So how are you doing in that area?

Jesus was asked in the Gospels what was the greatest commandment.  He answered in Luke 10:27 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."   And the second greatest commandment is what He said after... "Love your neighbor as yourself". 

Ever wonder how we do that?  Think about this statement:  The best day in Christianity is the day when Christians understand that to be holy - means to be nice.   The world sees our attitude before it sees us.   How can some of us proclaim that we have this loving Jesus inside of us and then be the kind of people we are to those around us?

Reminds me of many Sundays on our way to church.  Everyone is fighting and nit-picking.... and then when we get to church, everyone puts on a smile and acts like like is like a bowl full of cherries.  LOL  Reminds me of Erma Bombeck.  Remember her?  She always said that - and I think she even wrote a book with that title.

The more time I spend with Jesus, the more I read about Him in the Bible, the more I want to be like Jesus.  I seem to fail daily in some areas, but I have hope that some day I will see Jesus face to face and He will gather me into His arms and welcome me Home.   I can't quit seeking Him.  I can't turn my back on Him to live my own life.  He IS my life.

Oh to be more like Him!  It's more than just reading my Bible ands praying.  I want to do so much more!  My limitations are what I have to put before Him and ask for His interventions to allow me to serve Him the way I feel He wants me to - or shows me how to.  I keep telling myself "in time, I can do this or that" or "God will open up the door for me to serve Him when it is His timing".  So I wait, with a longing heart, for Him to open the doors, give me the ability and strength, and let me serve Him.  I have been held back far too long, in my opinion.  But I continue to wait, and to learn.  Obviously there are some things I still need to work on in my life so that I can serve completely.  

What about you?  Are you willing to let Jesus live in you?  If you did that, what would you need to change?  Anything?  Jesus loves you right where you are.  You don't have to flip your life around to give your heart to Him.  He will accept you right where you are.

I John 1:9:  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God, and that You came to earth.  You were crucified, died, and rose again on the third day.  You did this for me.  You took all my sins to the cross and nailed them there.  Please forgive me for my sins, and help me to live according to Your Word.  I know I may not give up some things immediately, but I ask for Your help in letting go the things I should. Thank You, Jesus, for being willing to die for me, and to forgive me, for all that I've done.  I am choosing You to live for. Help me in my weaknesses.  Amen.

Have a blessed day.