Starting Over...

Hey Blogville,

I don't think there are many of you that still visit my site anymore since I have slowed down on my posts... I think I make up for about half of my visits to my site each day (according to my site meter) :) Why would you? I don't think I would want to read about day one of my family vacation for two weeks in a row :) All jesting aside, I think I am ready to give my blog a little work out with some thoughts I have been having lately... I hope that you may find yourself encouraged if you stop by for a visit in the next few weeks.

I titled my post today "Starting over", and that is exactly where I feel I am in my life, at least spiritually speaking. I have really been "starting over" for the past five years of my Christian walk, but these last few months have solidified my feelings that I am beginning my walk all over again. I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but I feel like God is shaking my belief system all up, and only what is true is remaining...the only sad thing is that I am finding many things I thought were true and believed are coming to be shown for what they are.... Lies :(

Let me say this, as not to alarm anyone that may think I am walking down a wrong road. My belief that Jesus Christ, God's son, born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, and was crucified and rose again the third day as the only way to Heaven has not changed. If anything this Truth is more real to me than ever. I am talking about beliefs and teachings that have been passed down to me since I entered the Church around age nine. I also can add my own beliefs that I formed about God that were not true. I have passed around statements and beliefs about God as truth, when now I am seeing that what I said doesn't seem to line up with God's Word.

In the last couple of months, I have felt that the Lord has led me to several verses, and then sermons about truth. What is truth? I feel that there is so much that the Lord wants to show me about "truth", but the one thing I know right now is that God's Word is truth. Jesus is truth!! Above all, I feel I need to expose myself to that truth.

I have lived a lifetime off of the truth (sometimes it may have not even been truth) of wonderful Christian people because it seemed easier than seeking God myself. I am seeing that I settled for spiritual "leftovers" from godly Christians, when I could and should have been receiving my spiritual "meals" from God Himself. Listen, I love godly teachers, preachers, evangelists, authors, relatives, and friends (AKA: The body of believers), but I was not meant to grow spiritually only from their experiences, but from the words of God Himself. God should be my main source, and all others just add to what He is already teaching me. It is kind of unbelievable that I could be a Christian for so long, and yet miss something like this, but I did. I must Know Him....

I will continue the story of my journey soon...Next post, "What is Truth?"

The Family Vacation (The Beginning)

I don't know what it is, but typically Family Vacations have brought out the worst in me...It is like all my struggles are magnified when I am traveling in a closed space with my hubby and my kids... My hubby would say the same thing, so with his permission I will post our recap of our first two days. I must preface this post with saying that God has been teaching both my hubby and me so much when we go on vacation. I think I could even say that we are glad for the hard times, because we have learned so much about how we are in desperate need of Christ at all times, especially when in our minivan :)

Day 1

Casualties: A Portable Dual DVD Player System, and Terminator's Car seat

Recap
-Our family leaves at 7:20 (only 20 minutes later than my hubby planned), after I obsessively check all the locks multiple times and unplug as many appliances as I can.
-Group Family Prayer.
-15-20 minutes into the drive we realize that one DVD player is not working. Terminator begins to whine and throw a fit. This fit last about 10 minutes.
-Hubby and I pray out loud in the front seat.
-Terminator stopped fit, but is still whining a little. He says that he feels sick.
-Hubby plans on buying a pack of cigarettes at the next stop (he doesn't smoke anymore) FYI: He didn't :)
-Terminator moves into the middle seat and Moose goes to the back seat with Snake.

-1 hour into the trip, the second DVD screen won't work. NO DVD PLAYERS NOW...

-Hubby and I can't find a WI-FI hotspot so he can check his email. This doesn't seem like a problem, but before we left on our trip my hubby asked me to email him the locations of the LifeWay Christian Stores. I had been trying to find a certain Bible Study book (Siesta study :) and I didn't want to pay six dollars to have it shipped. My suggestion... we find a LifeWay Store on our way down to Florida. We can't find a Wi-Fi spot so hubby can check his email, and then we decide to call information and we get wrong information that sends us on a wild goose chase. I think the info calls cost us money too :)

-I get a little frustrated and my hubby gets tense... (Sidenote...We pulled into a gas station to get gas, and I look in a phonebook at the gas station. A Lifeway Store is about 1 mile up the road, and I find my book...it appeared to be the last one)

-As we are traveling through the hills of Tennessee Terminator abruptly announces that he just puked on himself. We pull over on a busy roadway, and hubby gets to cleaning up Terminator with wipes, and I get him some new clothes. Terminator has a bad track record with traveling. He threw up on a plane two times once. We are sure he has travel sickness. However, we are very thankful that he only threw up on himself and the car seat. We clean up as much as we can, and then stop later at a rest area, and I rinse out Terminator's very soiled clothes in a restroom sink.

-We later stop at Steak-N-Shake and eat... Great time there.

-When we get back into car the lingering smell of puke is there.

-We make a plan to buy a new car seat when we get to hotel.

-We get to hotel and my hubby and I get into a fight (details too long). We pack the family into the van again around 11 pm and go to Walmart in search of a car seat. My hubby is off the deep end, and I am not far behind.

-We get back to the hotel, and my hubby and I talk and make peace and decide to have a family meeting. We give the kids freedom to express how they think mom and dad have been treating each other. They have a lot to say :) The kids prayed for us, and then we pray and ask forgiveness of God.

-The night ends on a positive note!!!

DAY 2..... UNEVENTFUL and SORT OF JOYFUL!!!! Praise God!!!

Hoping all of your summer vacations are very eventful, but less the puke :-) We head back home next Friday... Until then, blessings to all...

14 Years Later

Before pictures on our honeymoon....A little clueless about married life :0

After pictures 14 Years Later on our anniversary date... What changes, especially the knowledge and wisdom we have gained 14 years later through God's help :)

Thankful Thursday

Today's Thankful post will be a little different because I am not naming things that are specific to me... I want you to go below one post and view the video, "Cardboard Testimonies"... The thankful part today is that we serve a God that totally transforms lives in all kinds of ways!!!

Cardboard Testimonies

This is about 8 minutes long, but you won't mind watching it...

Wordless Wednesday

I have posted these pictures before (I think), but they are just so cute I posted them again today... Moose, Snake and the Terminator...

Cafe Chat

If you could go back in time to a pivotal point in your young life and give yourself one word/sentence of advice, and know that you would accept the advice, what would it be?

Imagine what a gift it would be if we could actually go back in time and give ourselves advice…Hmm… Of course we cannot, but I think this is a great question for us to ponder. Although, I think many of us would agree that we learned more from the mistakes we made, but wouldn’t it be nice to not have to learn the “hard way” in some situations? Have fun with the question this week.

I cannot wait to read your responses…

I have read a few answers of today's participants, and it looks like many of us have the same idea when it comes to our word of advice that we would give our(young)selves... I was introduced to Jesus when I was nine years old, and it was not too long after that I accepted Him as my personal Savior, but the road I travelled after that did not lead me to a thriving relationship with Christ. On the outside, it looked like I was doing everything right, but on the inside I was deceiving myself.

So my words of advice to myself would be to seek Jesus with all of my heart, put Him first above all others... Find my identity in Him alone. Serve the "audience of one" and surrender all. If I truly had done that my life would be so different now, but I am also thankful for the path I have taken because I feel God is redeeming all my mistakes and bad choices for His Good Purpose. What a ride :) Thank you Lord Jesus for granting me Mercy and seeking me out... YOU ALONE ARE WORTHY... HELP ME TO ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT...

Wordless Wednesday

Our Tornado Plan...a Tub and some Gameboys :) We came close to experiencing a Tornado, but it didn't hit our area...just some ping pong size hail.

Our 14th Anniversary Date

We spent a day with the Lincolns...
My hubby went back in time to visit with Abe when he was a little boy...
Oops, I don't think I was suppose to smile... This is Frederick Douglas, and I don't know the name of the seated woman.
Hubby talking politics with McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant... I think they are ignoring him :) My poor hubby...I made him pose for all of these shots...
This wax figure was one of the first ones I noticed...I thought it looked so real, so I told my hubby to pose with the figure and act like he was talking with him (I'm so silly...my 3 boys are really going to love me when we go places), and after the picture my hubby tells me that the figure is John Wilkes Booth. Ouch... I didn't know that...
This is me with the Lincoln's... This set-up was inside the only area where kids could play...
We stopped at a souvenir shop...I just love shopping for souvenirs although I didn't get anything (I have learned how many souvenirs go in the garbage :), but the flowers outside the shop were lovely.

Us, at the back entrance to Lincoln's tomb. This picture does not even capture how massive this tomb is...

In a nutshell, that was our anniversary date together... I enjoyed it so much, and I learned a lot about Abe Lincoln. Blessings!!!