Slow Down

How many of you would like to slow down, take a break, have a nap? God has been teaching me to slow down. When I was in school, I was a straight-A student, worked on the yearbook staff, played volleyball, attended other sporting events, sang on the praise team at church, volunteered for everything that was going on at church and lots more. My focus was on my future and my ministry opportunities. Now, I have an awesome husband and two wonderful children. I have to slow down.

Our family began attending a new church in January 2010. When we joined the church in March 2010, we began serving in Kids Church. I enjoy it very much! However, the church is a big church and there are a lot of ministry opportunities. It would be very easy for me to become overwhelmed with ministries. Sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy store. I reach my hand out to take hold of something that looks good to me and my Papa God has to slap my hand gently and tell me, "Not now. Maybe later." When something comes up that I want to do but I continuously have to find someone to watch my kids for me, I have to put a stop to that. I did not have kids for other people to always watch them. I have to slow down and cherish the time that I have with them right now. They will never be 5 and 6 years old again. Whatever it is that looks good to me right now can wait.

Sometimes I get anxious: my house isn't big enough, my car doesn't fit me, I don't have enough time, and do I have to cook again tonight?! So do I get a job, go back to school, make money like my husband does? How much time would that leave me for my family and for volunteering? But wait - my God has everything under control. He is with me today and He already knows my tomorrow. I have to constantly be giving my life to Him on a daily basis.

And the hard part is that this only works for me. My life is not like your life and your life is not like anyone else's life. God has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. It is very easy for us to compare ourselves to other people, but that is not a healthy thing to do. There is always going to be someone better at what we do than we are and there is always going to be someone who isn't as good as we are and we can help them.

My standard begins with God's word. I open my Bible and read it. Then I pray that God will guide my every step and give me the desire to see His will be done in my life. That's it. It's easy to get distracted by the little things, but I have to keep my eyes on God. I know that He will make everything right.

Photo Collages

One of my favorite things to do is to make my own photo collages. I put one event on each page and then leftover pictures just get put on a page all together. I am still ordering 2009 collages and I am putting together 2010 collages now. I am about half-way done but I still have a ways to go. I am hoping that I will be all caught up by the end of 2012. Here is one example of my collage pages:

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements. My husband and I got a really good deal on it the day after Thanksgiving one year and I have loved the program! It's kind of complicated, so you have to take the time to really learn it, but it's worth the time!

I hope you have some way to keep memories of your family. I love photos. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." I don't know who said it or where it came from but it is absolutely true! God bless you all! Have a great day :)

Honduras Missions

Hello, All!

As some of you know, my husband Brandon has been to Honduras on one misisons trip with our church and is going again this coming June. We have raised most of the money, but we still need a little more support. God has been so good to us and now Brandon is going to share that love with others.

Brandon took this photo on last year's trip. I added the Bible verse Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." Brandon went out every morning and stood on a bridge watching the sun come up, reading and praying. In this picture is a man in a small boat fishing. The setting is so quiet and serene. Could we even imagine life like that? We are always so busy. Not that that's a bad thing! But God reminds us to take time for Him. He wants us to stop, to be still, and know that He is God, He is in control of everything.

We are offering this photo for a $15 donation to the missions trip. Last year, the group worked with a children's church, helped the kids paint, traveled to churches doing dramas and praying for the congregation, handing out care packages at a children's home and more. Your donation will show someone God's love.
If you would like to see what last year's trip was like, we put together a YouTube video for you to watch. Just search "Honduras 2011 Brandon's Trip."

Thank you and God bless!

Book to Read: Heaven Is For Real

I got the book Heaven Is For Real for Christmas. I read it in a little over 2 hours. It is soooooo good! The little boy in the book left his body during a surgery, spent 3 minutes in heaven, and this book tells of what he remembers.

I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ, and this book, along with countless other stories, confirm the belief that there is life after death. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will spend eternity with Him in heaven :) If you do not, there is another place you will go :(

This book is close to my heart as well because the little boy in this book was around 4 years old when he had this experience. My little boy just turned 5. I cried once while reading this book and it was when the mother was holding her little boy in her arms and she looked up at her husband and said, "I think this is it." Boohoo! I couldn't even imagine the heartbreak she went through. God is so good to get us through the unimaginable.

If you have time, read this book. It is so nice to read about Jesus who loves us soooooooooo much :)

Thank You Cards

I make and print my own Thank You cards. I know that there are drug stores and big stores and websites who can do that for you, but I like to make my own. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements for all of my photo creations. I got my copy at a Black Friday sale really cheap.

My favorite card so far is my daughter's 6th birthday Thank You card. I wanted to make sure that I got all of her friends that attended her party onto the card. Family members made it onto the card as well.

I think it is really nice to have such a personal touch to things! :)

Happy 50th Anniversary

My grandparents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year! That is awesome to me. I pray that by the grace of God my husband and I will be able to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary (as long as neither of us goes to meet the Lord before that). I will be 69 years old and he will be 70! I'm looking forward to it!

I took a photography course back in 2006 so I am the family photographer. Because of that, I was put in charge of the photos for the evening. The first thing I had to do was make an invitation. I took my grandparents' wedding photo, scanned it into the computer and made an invitation out of it. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements to make all of my photo creations, and then I order them through my local Sams Club.

It turned out great! The party was a complete surprise and there were so many family and friends who showed up. Congratulations, Mema and Grandaddy!

PARTY BOX!!!

I have a party box! This box holds most things I need to have a party. It is a plastic tub with a lid and it has gift bags, tissue paper, balloons, paper plates, paper cups, streamers, decorations, birthday candles, napkins and tablecloths.

Every time I have a party I put the extras and leftovers into my party box. My daughter had a "Luau" themed birthday one year, so I put all of the leftovers into one gallon size storage bag.

I use gallon and quart size storage bags to keep things organized. I keep all the tissue paper in gallon size bags, napkins in gallon size bags, and candles in quart size bags. I also keep and re-use balloon weights. I haven't bought one of those in years!

I also keep scissors and scotch tape in my box to help with putting up the decorations. It comes in handy to leave a roll of aluminum foil and a box of extra storage bags so you can pack up as you clean up without having to hunt down supplies.

I love my party box! I hope this idea has helped you. May your family be filled with joy and happiness from this day forward! :-)