Beer goggle moments.

My family has been through some tough times the last few months. Sometimes I tend to ask God, "Why?" Does anyone else do this? I'm sure we all have at sometime in our life but at the point of brokenness and being desprate for an answer I tend to feel so alone in the world. Now, I KNOW I'm never alone and it just seems that way, but it's hard to see outside of my selfish little world sometimes... it's like I have beer goggles on. To best describe it, it's the moments when everything around me is crazy, confusing, and giving me a major headache. I just can't see straight to the truth when I'm a hot mess.

The truth is:
God comforts me through my heartache and brokenness;
God has control of the chaos around me;
God gives me clearity when I am unsure;
And He will never leave me nor forsake me!

Psalms 9:10- Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalms 55:22- Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:7- And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

Psalms 111:10- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.

So it really is okay to wonder why hardships keep coming after you one after the other, but it's improtant to know that God's got everything under control. In other words, He's got your back no matter what! Thank the Lord!

Joy.

The house is quiet this morning. It feels strange. It makes me think of what life will be after all the kids move out. Somedays, I'll be honest, I can't wait for that day to come. (Those are the days I usually call up my mom and bag her to take the girls and don't give them back until they are under control. lol) Other days, which is most days, I'll think I will miss them and miss hearing them laugh, cry, needing me, hugging me, and all the other little things we do together as a family on a daily basis. I feel so blessed to have married my best friend and know that we can make it through anything, and the beautiful babies we created just add to the happiness I feel when I think about my life. I can smile. A smile seems so simple but there is power in it! It can brighten someone's day, or make someone who is crying feel better, or build a connection. So smile about your life because everything works out in the end. When it seems real hard and you don't see an end to the madness, someday you'll look back and be happy that you had that experience because I bet you learned something about yourself you never knew. I know I do. So find something that makes you happy and hold onto it during the ups and downs... you'll need it to see some calm in the storm. For me it's Jesus. I cling to him at all times. He brings peace and understanding in my life. What brings you joy?

I hope everyone has an awesome day.

Blessed Beyond Words.

I have a BIG vision! A big vision will result in big results if I commit, stay excited, and push threw! I stinkin love my job and I'm so happy God has brought this blessing into my life. He knew I would need Premier. Seriously, ever since I've started selling Premier Jewelry I've seen God's hand more in my life than ever before. I'm loving it! 

I got a phone call from my brother today (he's in Afghanistan right now). That made my day until my phone died on him. Seriously, my phone is always dying. LAME! Anyways, he is coming home soo soon... I just can't wait! My little brother is one of the coolest guys alive! If you don't know him then you're missing out!

On another note, everyone have a blessed day!

Oh How He Loves Us.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"

How many times do you check yourself in the mirror daily? How many times do you make a negative comment about your body? If you're anything like me it's too often. I am critical about my outward appearance when clearly that does not define who I am. I am an unique individual full of gifts that the Lord has blessed me with but I let my insecurities hold me back too many times. This is so silly to me when God clearly states that the heart is what matters. So I'm getting to the bottom of why I do this to myself...

I need to get over myself and being so concerned about what others think of me... So hard when this world is geared toward looks but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I need to be secure in who God has made me to be... live out the plan He has created me for. He does have a plan for me and I can't wait to unfold it... He IS working on me daily, molding my heart to look more like how He wants it to look.

Dropping all judgement and just loving others. Encourage one another. My challenge this next week is to compliment someone not only on their outward appearance but also on their character every chance I get. What will you do this week to encourage someone?

A good laugh.

So my cousin Jeremy is on a missions trip in Africa. He is experiencing God in a whole new way and I'm so excited to listen to all his stories when he gets home. Luckly I don't completely have to wait for all his stories because he has a blog he keeps updated. Recently he wrote the funniest blog that I just have to share. Maybe it's just funny to me because I can hear him in my head as he's writing this but I just think it's hilarious! I hope you enjoy...

http://kenya.adventures.org/?filename=i-like-big-butts-and-i-cannot-lie-minus-the-i-like-part

Oh yes, and please pray for him and his team. He is coming home soon and we all can't wait to see him. It's been since Jan.

Stepping out.

Church was awesome today. I love my church family. Today I stepped out of my comfort zone. I saw a very pregnant girl sitting by herself. I told Marcus I wanted to go intoduce myself, so I did. I'm so happy I did. She's a very nice girl and has a 2 year old son and she's due this next week with a baby girl. I asked her if she needed anything and she said she doesn't have anything. God has blessed me with tons of girl stuff so I'm going to give her some of my stuff I don't need anymore. I love being able to bless people and usually they are more of a blessing to me. I love the way God works. So I often wonder, why don't we expect more from God? Life could be like this all the time... make a new friend and bless each other. Life is good.

Newest goal.

I often wonder if holding my tongue is God teaching me to be patient. When I get annoyed I don't hide my feelings very well. My face gives everything away, an open book. I should probably work on this but I feel I need to first get better at keeping some of my thoughts to myself.
In the last two days I've had two incidents where I had to stop and think about what I was about to say and how I could word it best. This is hard for me. I know God is working on my heart. I realize I am an example of who Christ is so I try my best but I fail to succeed at always doing the Godly thing. So I repent and learn from my mistakes but once in a while I get it right.
It's a lot easier to do what God wants me to when I am reading the Bible. So why doesn't this come naturally to me. I'll be honest, somedays reading the Bible doesn't even cross my mind. I pray everyday but hardly ever read the Bible except for Sundays at church. This is something I've struggled with my whole life. I have to change.