God is GOOD, all the time!

Good afternoon, dear friend. I'm so glad you checked in! :D

My sister and brother-in-law are arriving this afternoon. We're going to be busy for the next few days - I'm even going to manage to fit in some work Sunday afternoon! :D

So, please forgive me if posting is a little sporadic. Not like I've been ALWAYS punctual or anything, but still! :D I hope you'll leave me a comment or two; tell me how God's blessed YOUR life this week!

What, the salad? :D It's an Applebee's oriental chicken salad, done at home. Check out this website to get the copycat recipe! You'll LOVE it - and be able to change it up as YOU want!!!

BE BLESSED, dear one! You ARE already, you know - try counting your blessings!! They add up quickly; you'll be humbled by how much God has done in your life. Don't forget to THANK HIM!!!!!

Wash Day!

Monday

Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday

Ironing Day

Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday

Mending Day

O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday

Cleaning Day

Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday

Shopping Day

O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.

Saturday

Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday

The Lord's Day

O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

Tuesday is Goal-Check Day!!!

It's that dreaded time of the week, ladies. :D It's time for us to 'fess up about how we're doing with the goals we've set ourselves. I'll go first, then ask those of you who sent me your goals some questions!

OK. First goal: reading the Bible in chronological order. I was up with my schedule until last night; my room threw up into the rest of the house while they're doing the floors :D, so I'm not quite sure where the Bible I'm using and my schedule got off to. It's on my list of things to find today. :D

Second goal: doing water aerobics twice a week, starting this week. Tonight is the class I attend, and Kenn knows I'm going, and I know I'm going, and my bag is all packed and ready to grab. :) I'm half dreading it, half looking forward to it. My endurance is way down, and it's amazing how much my carpal-tunnel hurts when working with water weights. But I love the water! :D I love being so much lighter in the water. LOL!

Third goal: setting office hours and keeping them. OK, not so good. I was on a conference call last night about balance in life - and I used to teach this stuff, too! :D - but the one thing he said was multi-tasking is a popular buzz word, but not an effective way of getting ANYTHING done. So, I'm going to stop multi-tasking, especially when I'm on the computer, and that should help me get much closer to this goal. I am doing better at keeping things separated. Another thing that came out of this call was: if I don't have separations and boundaries I'm willing to adhere to, why should I expect anyone else to adhere to them?

OK, I'm done. :D Now, then. Let me pull out my file! :) OK.

Deby. You're first. :D How are YOU doing? I know ou're reading. How about your organization? your WW?

Nancy! :) How are YOU doing? What steps toward your goals have you been able to take in the last week?

Judy? How's the exercise going? Still keeping on with it?

BECKY!! :D How are you doing with your billion goals? :D I know you're stamping and scrapping like you wanted to, and doing really well on your keeping your house straight. :) I know you didn't go to church Sunday because you hurt your leg. Plans for Wednesday night? How are you doing with your other goals?

Karen. :) How are those steps toward your accomplished goals going? Are you journaling? How's the Bible reading going? The rest of them? :)

Anyone else jumping on this bandwagon? :) It's never too late to set a goal for yourself. I'll be glad to help, if that's what you need. And we're ALL holding each other accountable.

The picture is from this morning; it's the wind chimes outside our back deck. It's REALLY warm here this morning; the weather front is moving in, so it's going to get stormy, but it's just silly when you go outside at 8:30 in the morning and it's as warm OUTSIDE as it is INSIDE, in JANUARY. AUGH!!!!!

:) OK. Time to move on to another task. I hope you're having a WONDERFUL day, my dear friend. I am blessed beyond measure by you!!!! Take this verse today, and take a moment to obey:

Psalm 46:10-11

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Trying to relax....

In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,

even as we put our hope in you.

--Psalm 33:21-22

Wow. What a week of trials. If you're a regular, or if you're passing thru and feel like it, I'd sure appreciate some prayer support! I honestly believe God's using this blog for His work, and Satan doesn't like it. It's kind of obvious! :) I'm trusting that He 's going to take care of everyting, but it sure doesn't do my glucose levels any good! :) I'm trying to be like my favorite polar bear, here, and just kick back and rest in Him. Prayer's still a good thing.... ;D

How are you doing today? What's God been saying to you this week? I'm so glad you've come into my life! He's been showing me that He wants to use me - ONLINE!!!! It's amazing to me - I've been seeking my niche at church, and really haven't found anything that's ME. I do lots of things there, trust me, but my heart is for women who need encouragement and support, and this blog has allowed me to be in touch with lots of you who do - and who return the blessing. :D THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I cannot WAIT to see what God has in store for all of us as we walk this road together. :)

Kenn and I are double-dating with our dear friends Angela and Chris tonight; we're going to see Johnny Depp in SWEENY TODD and then out to dinner. (We go for MONTHS and don't get to go out, and this week we'll have been to two movies! :D) Tomorrow, Mom and I are going to the Goodwill half-price sale in the early morning, then my open house for my Stampin' Up!® business is from 10 - 12, then I have a birthday party to attend, and Sunday is Sunday school and church and a baby shower I'm in charge of. PHEW. It's going to be a busy weekend!! Either tomorrow or Monday will start the flooring project in MY BEDROOM, which will be the very last of the projects for this time. I'll be SO GLAD to have my peace & quiet back again! :)

What are you doing this weekend? Tell you what. Let's make Mondays "What I learned at church" days. Tuesdays will be "How I'm doing on my goals" days. Wednesdays will be "Introduction days" - those of you who don't mind will send me a picture and a "bio", so we can get to know each other better. I've already got one for this coming week - you'll be meeting my dear friend, Karen. :) I can't wait! Then we'll see how the rest of the days shape up! :)

Have a wonderful day, dear one. Know God LOVES you, and HE IS GOOD - no matter what circumstances around you are. :) (Can you tell I'm preaching to myself, here???) I MAY post one more time today, to do a Show & Tell. :) ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!!! I'll post as I'm able....

Happy New Year!

How did you celebrate last night? I don't want to talk about it - but we've already made plans about what we want to do for New Year's Eve 2008. :D

Don't you love this photo? I leaned out the window of our sun porch to take it. This beautiful reminder of God's love was right around the corner - I just had to look for it. Today, for instance. It's MUCH colder than it's been in the past few days, but it is BEAUTIFUL - the sun is shining, the fountain is bubbling merrily away, the squirrels are playing in the back yard. What a glorious start to the new year!

Well, today starts those "resolutions". I don't believe in them - they're not goals with deadlines, so there isn't a reason to stick with them! :) So, I've got goals for this year.

First, I'm joining with some dear friends in reading thru the Bible in chronological order. I've printed off the whole year, so I can tick them off daily. I am COMMITTED to doing this; I need to, but I haven't had anyone to hold me accountable in the past few years - so I start, then stop, and no one knows or cares. I expect YOU to hold me to it! :)

Next, I am going to make sure my time is used more wisely. I am setting up "office hours" for the photography business, so both my husband and I know when I'm supposed to be working on things for it. I'll be setting up studio time for stamping and creating, and office time for my other businesses, too. I want to get on a schedule, so I don't feel like I'm at everyone's beck and call 24/7. I need to take care of me, too!

And as my last "share" for the day, I am going to get back to going to the Y. As part of taking care of myself, I need to give my body all the tools I can for using insulin and glucose the way it's supposed to! So, I pledge to start going to the Y at least twice a week starting next week, to do my water aerobics. I enjoy them when I'm there, but it's GETTING there that can be difficult! :)

So. Do YOU want to share your goals for this year? It will help to have someone hold you accountable, I promise! Feel free to share whatever you'd like in a comment - or email me privately at pooh0612@aol.com. Let's work TOGETHER! :)

Have a wonderful day, dear friend. Look for the little piece of beauty God put there for you to find!