Running

So, I'm trying to be better to my body.  We're trying to cut out all foods with high fructose corn syrup & hydrogenated oils....do you know that's in a lot of what I like??? I actually feel better eating this way but I'm still craving dr. pepper & diet coke.  So, this week, in honor of my body, I started running again.  And I use the word "running" very loosely.  I think I'm going to have to start over with the couch to 5K program to build up my endurance.  I'm not super happy about this change. I like to eat and not exercise BUT I also like to live and be healthy. I want my kids to see my being healthy too.  They're worth it and so am I:)

So, at Catalyst Church we're doing a series on Revelation. I have really enjoyed it. If you want to catch up, watch it here.  It's been very thought provoking.  A few weeks ago the phrase said was something like this, "We may not have what we want but God provides all we need."  Honestly, I have really struggled with that ever since.  A friend and I even had a conversation about it after church this last Sunday because it was so powerful for her. My initial reaction to that is, we don't always have what we need.  There are Christ loving people who are hungry and poor and they don't have what they need.  And I hear people, mostly Christians (I hate to say it), say things like, "I'm blessed with this money or this thing or this job."  And I don't fault them for that but I'm just not sure how I feel about it.  When we first moved here and had 2 house payments for 14 months.  I was talking to some very well meaning people and they were talking about when they moved, their house sold in 2 weeks and how they felt so confirmed with their decision because God blessed them with a quick sell.  It bugged me because God still blessed us even paying double house payments. We were taken care of but I when I say we were blessed I mean in our relationship with Him. We drew closer than we ever had before because we were so desperate for Him and HIS provision.  And by provision, I don't mean money, I mean the provision that we were His.  We even had the conversation so what if we foreclose...well what if we do?  We're still His and He still loves us. 

So, when I hear people say God blessed them with this or that and God provides their material needs, it bugs me.  Sometimes, our basic needs are not provided for. Sometimes we're hungry and we're poor (truly).  What I've come to learn that the phrase means that regardless of our earthly state, God provides what we need and what we need is totally Him.  It isn't about our humanity, it's about our relationship with Him.  That's still a hard concept for me. 

Alright, that's my thought for today that started a few weeks ago...still working through that.

Well Hello there................

I know I've been MIA for awhile.  Summer has been awesome & crazy all at the same time. The kids and I spent two weeks in Florida.  The first week, I was with my YoYos and the second week with family.  It was absolutely incredible. I honestly had a really hard time coming back to reality.  Whenever I'm with my family, it takes me a little bit to reacclimate to life.  I get a bit resentful to be so far away and I kind of just want to stay in my shell and then I pop back out of  it.  I realize we are where we're supposed to be for now and that's okay with me.  I still get sad leaving..it was quite painful for all 3 of us this time.  This was K's first time to be so distraught about leaving Nana & Coachy.  A & I always cry and carry on when it's time to say goodbye.

But, we're back and we've enjoyed June and some of July now.  We stay busy with playdates and pools.  I have really enjoyed all the time we've spent together as a family.  Levi has been going to work SUPER early and getting a lot of his studying and prep work done before others are out and about.  We've done a lot of fun, family stuff and it's been great.

I'll write more...I've got one more blog topic in my brain so I'm going to go with it while I'm thinking about it.

Birthday

So...I had my birthday!  It was lots of fun.  I woke up that morning and my Dad called a few minutes later. I love that my parents try to call me FIRST thing in the morning on my birthday.  Lots of times, they even wake me up since they're an hour earlier. I love that!  Then, my mom called.  That night, a friend kept our kids so we could go on a date. We went out to eat with Jonathan & Meagan, that's our birthday tradition now and then we went to see The Fast Five. GREAT movie by the way:)  Then on Sat. morning, I went with April Wilson and we had manis & pedis.  We even splurged & did the gel coated thing...so far I love that too.  And then to top it off, last night we celebrated with the kiddos at Chilis with the Wilsons.  What a great birthday weekend.  Today we're cooking out with Xuan & Juan. It will be fabulous to catch up with them too.  Guess we left the big guys out...sorry guys;)

Target, Oh how I have missed you!!

I love Target, I mean LOVE it!  I could go there probably every day (maybe every other) and just walk the aisles in search of nothing & everything at the same time.  I caught myself up on my coupon notebook so I was ready to get some good deals.  I didn't over due it. In fact, I only spent $12 but here's what I got::

6 sticks of men's deodorant
1 shampoo
1 conditioner
2 body washes
3/4 lb of deli ham
1 pint of coffee creamer
3 boxes of Morningside Prime Grillers
1 bottle of nail polish (electric blue)

Fun stuff!!  I love me some Target coupons:)

Typical Pastor's Wife

I read this blog today and it resonated with me.  I thought I'd share it. You can find the original posting here.

Don't freak out....

I'm blogging, don't freak out.  It's been almost a month.   I've been busy and overwhelmed and anxious...forgive me for not blogging.  I'm not even going to try to catch you up on the last month of my life.  I'll just start here.

Today is Sunday. Sundays are big days in our household.  We all look forward to them, which is cool.  My kids love Sundays, they get to see their friends, and go out to lunch with them.  I love that they love Sundays.  I love them too. I love to see what Levi has to say. I love the music.  I love hugging all my friends and meeting new people. I love hearing stories about how people end up at Catalyst.  That's probably my favorite actually.  Today, I talked to a couple of guys that have been coming for a few weeks but I haven't had the chance to really meet them. One of them shared how he found Catalyst and that he loved how laid back we are.  I love getting positive feedback.

Today Levi preached on a passage of scripture that has been used out of context.  It was really good. His point today was that how we live our lives matters.  It kind of hit me between the eyes.  I want my life to matter and I want my life to point back to God's grace and forgiveness and mercy. I don't think it always does and I'm ashamed of that.  Sometimes it's hard to balance that with human emotions and feelings.  I'm going to work on that.

We had two neighbors who showed up at church today...that was very cool.  We've become friends with some alley neighbors over the past few weeks.  While I was at a shower yesterday, Levi took the kids over to play in their yard.  Come to find out, A invited them to church and they came.  I'm not sure if they'll come back or how they even felt about it but I am stinkin' proud of A for telling others about our church.  We have another neighbor who just moved in a month or so ago and while we were rebuilding our fence, we talked to him for a good bit.  He was asking questions about the area and other things and church came up.  Levi was telling him about all the great churches in the area.  He showed up this morning too....and tonight for our Night of Worship. It was very cool!!

We ended our night with a group of friends at Sonic.  I feel very blessed and grateful!!  Thankful for that!!