Friday, February 27, 2009

Just to keep you quenched...

I know I haven't blogged lately...been too busy with home, church, work and other things like Winter Jam! I'll tell you about it sometime - just ask me about the pink gorilla...yeah, you read right...Well, I got a Raspberry Chocolate bar for Valentines and I thought I'd share with you the wrapper...


Yes, it says "Fully Loaded" nice...btw-anything raspberry is good because it's sour.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Encouragement for today - from Crosswalk

The Whitening Process
Marybeth Whalen

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow."
Psalm 51:7 (NIV)

Devotion:
When my dental hygienist of a mom gave me a free whitening kit from her dentist's office, I was elated. The cost of the whitening treatment had been far too expensive for me in the past, so I had never pursued it. But free I could do! Unfortunately, I quickly discovered this whole teeth whitening thing wasn't the blissful experience I had anticipated. It was far more painful and complicated than I understood when I began. As I thought about this, I realized it was a parallel to the Christian life.

Whitening is painful. The chemicals they use in the bleaching process can cause pain. The nerves under the gum-line that are exposed to these chemicals can really hurt, making things you used to do without thinking--like eating, for example--impossible. I thought about how this applies to God's process of making us white as snow, as today's verse says. We want that process to be quick and easy. We don't want Him to make things we used to do to become painful or unpleasant. And yet, by exposing those nerves--the stuff we keep hidden under the surface--we are forced to change things about ourselves. We don't want the pain, and yet sometimes pain is the only thing that will cause the change God wants to bring about in us.

Whitening takes a long time. I was asking my mom why they don't just make a product that works in one application. Why does this process have to be so drawn out? "Because," she answered, "The chemicals are so harsh you couldn't take it all in one application, so they break it up a little at a time." I thought about how gentle and loving our Heavenly Father is, allowing us to go through a process of refinement, instead of being exposed to more than we can take all at once. He leads us along the path of righteousness -- a journey. He never gives us more than we can take, balancing just the right amount of pain mixed with just the right amount of perfectly timed relief. It might take longer than we want, but we can find peace in knowing that the end-result will be worth waiting for.

Whitening isn't convenient. I couldn't find an ideal time to submit myself to this process. Finding three hours to wear a tray full of chemicals in my mouth just wasn't happening. The refiner's fire is like this. It is never convenient and it certainly won't fit into your neatly ordered life to develop the character of Christ. And if you wait until you are "ready" to submit to it with your whole heart, well, it likely will never get done. God wants us to come before Him and say, "I will make the time to undergo what You have for me, because I want to be all I can for You, Lord." When He hears this from us, He moves within our lives to bring about dazzling change.

God's whitening process--it might not be easy, or tidy, or even close to what we expected, but we can trust it will be for the best.
Dear Lord, the cry of David's heart is the cry of my heart: I want You to cleanse me, to make me whiter than snow. I understand that pain, discomfort and inconvenience will be part of that process. Help me to submit to that process every step of the way and to trust You at all times. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I hope this lifts you up today. Have a great weekend.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Scripture For The Weak (week)

Isaiah 54:4
"Don't be afraid-your not going to be embarassed.
Don't hold back-your not going to come up short."

Hope this encourages you this week. God bless you all.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

"Ode to Christopher"

My brother the Pumpkin...haha...inside joke! Today is his 21st Birthday! I don't think he has anything special planned, but that doesn't mean I don't...! If you'd like to give him a shout out for his B-Day go to http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1343300642&ref=ts

Have an awesome day, Bro!

I could've been rich...

A few years ago I was making a cake for a friend and decorating his name with M&M's. I thought to myself, "Man, it would be so cool if these M&M's had different letters or phrases on them so I could spell out a message easier..." I told a few people and they were like, "You should totally go for it! That's a great idea!" But I kept trying to tell them it wouldn't ever work because it's like a trademark, they are just not going to take their "stamp" off of the M&M.

So last week I ran across a bag of M&M's and on the back it was advertising "Customise your M&M's!" UGH! Are you kidding me? Come on! So if you want to check out my original idea....http://www.mymms.com/

I could've been a millionaire or something...

Freind: "How did you get rich?"
Me: "...Uh, I wrote on candy...."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

X-Man

So I have this second Mom....weird...She was friends with my parents before I was born. She has 3 sons, 1 is my age, the other is 15 and the youngest is 3...yeah. The 15 year old brother named him Xavier, nickname being: X-Man or X (Which apparently was not a very good idea, because he jumps from things like he is a real, live super-hero). You know when you hear people call for their kids in stores?? "Suzie, get over here now!" or "Jimmy, that is NOT a toy!" Well, I'm watching X this week and whenver I call for him I feel like it sounds really weird, like I'm calling for my ex (X)...maybe it's just me. At least it's not like those people who name their kids things that scar them for the rest of their lives, like Eileen Wright...horrible. What terrible names have you heard of? Or have yourself...

Thursday, February 5, 2009

"Umbrella - Christ Mix"

This is a vid by Coffey` Anderson who is an amazing vocalist and actually went on Nashville Star. He didn't win, but I think he does better with worship and redos than country music...>ick<... Anyway, check it out for yourself. http://youtube.com/watch?v=vE57VcA8E_M&feature=related

This is a song he wrote himself, it's my fav...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM-yHPGCgEw

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Worth the watch

This is a drama found on God Tube. It has a very good representation of the love of God for us. my fav part starts around 3:45 into it. Let me know what you think. http://tinyurl.com/2b56om

Top 10 Phrases from the Weekend

#10 - "Let's go look at yarn! Yay, yarn!"
#9 - "When I scratch his but-er, I mean 'Hindquarters'."
#8 - "Mud, Marvelous Mud."
#7 - "Mmmm....someone smells good..."
#6 - "Your gonna be a tree in another life? Well, then I'm going to be a dog and I'm going to find you."
#5 -Poetry Time: "You can stand under my umbrella. Ella. Ella. A. A. A. You can stand under my umbrella. Ella. Ella. A. A. A. A.
#4 - "Scaraphobia."
#3 - "Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart."
#2 - "Guys like girls who are born."
#1 - "Your face needs more breadsticks."

All of these have stories and goofiness behind them. Here's an extra one, just for funzies, "Come on Girls, Make some noooiiiiissse!" Wow, this was a fun weekend...do you have any random phrases?