Sunday, December 14, 2008

Wow....

....been a while since I last updated....
Crazy how life can just get away from you....


Maybe I should make a resolution to update this thing more in the next year....hmmm....I'll have to think about that.

Anyway, life has been good, but busy!!

My photography has taken off!! I've had lots of people wanting Christmas pictures this year and I'm so excited!! :0) Working on a price list and business cards now :0)

Just finished up Jingle Jam this weekend @ the mall - it was a production put on by Crossroads. Check back for a blog with more info plus pictures :0)

For now, it's bedtime! One more week of school till Christmas break - and I'm exhausted!!

Check back soon for more updates!! :0)
G'Night!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Voices...

...are all around us.
The world is full of voices that try to discourage us, tell us we're not good enough, fill our hearts and minds with negative thoughts.
Satan is in the world and he is out to destroy the hearts of those that choose to follow God.
I've 'rediscovered' a song I used to love...but forgot that I loved it...until it was brought back to my mind the other day.
Casting Crowns - Voice of Truth
I love the chorus...
But the voice of truth tells me a different story. The
voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!" And the voice of truth says, "This is
for My glory!" Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen
and believe the voice of truth.
The voices in the world like to remind us of all the times we've failed and of all the times we've not measured up. But there is one voice we can always trust - the voice of God. The voice of truth.
The bridge goes on to say...
I will soar with the wings of eagles when I stop and
listen to the sound of Jesus singing over me.
So I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

My story....

...is being written by a great big God who loves me very much!
This brings two things to mind...
First...
"I'm a small part of a big story about a big God who is my Father with infinite love and a burning love for all the world to see"
That's part of the promotional video for Camp Kidjam for our kiddos in XKidx City. It's so cool that we are a part of this whole big story that God has planned out. We don't know what that plan is, but God does.
Second...
"Forever...You are the God of my story...write every line for Your glory"
This is part of a song (one of my new favorites) called "Breathe on Me" by Todd Fields. Love this song. God is the God of my story. And I want my life to show His glory. I love this song, and I love this line from it. Before this line it also says, "Forever...You are my reason for living, merciful Savior, unending...Breathe on me" And God is my reason for living - I want to live for Him, share Him, make Him proud.
I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about God's plan for my life story. And I have no idea what it is. Some days, like I said, that's frustrating. I want to know the plans He has for me, I want to know what's in store, I want to know what my future holds. I like to know what's going on, I like to be in control of things. And I can sit and plan my life as much as I want to - but it doesn't matter because God has the perfect plan for me. When I get past my frustration and past my desire to control things, I get excited. I mean, my God loves me so much that He made a plan for me before I was even born. And my God loves me so much that He wants the absolute best for me - so He's gonna have some pretty great things planned for me!
We just finished a series at church last week called "Intersect." It was a wonderful series!! It was all about how we, as Christians, can intersect with God and truly experience Him.
In the first week, we learned that "when our faith intersects with God's faithfulness, we come to know God." We know God wants us to do something. But sometimes we don't understand why He wants us to. We question God. We wonder, we fret, we worry. But God wants us to step out on faith and follow Him and just trust that He knows what He's doing. When we take that step of faith, we experience God in ways we never thought possible.
In the second week, we learned that when we step out on that faith, we sometimes have to wait. "Waiting on God forces me to either give in to God or give up on God." We pray and we ask God something. And sometimes it seems like forever before we get an answer from God. The wait is a gift. That is when we learn about God and we learn about ourselves. If we wait, eventually we get the chance to give in to God and what He wants to do in our lives. We give in to God and fully trust Him with the situation that life has brought our way.
In the final week, we learned that "the will of God is always accompanied by the resources of God." So many times God calls us to do something and we give Him excuses about why we can't. But if God calls us to do something, He's going to give us the resources, the guidance, and the wisdom we need to carry it out.
Now, Matt and Justin did a much better job presenting it than I just did - but those are the basics. God has a plan, He calls us to His plan, we step out on faith, we wait on God, we learn, and He gives us what we need to live the plan He has called us to live.
That series was very refreshing to me. God's got a plan for my life. He's gonna do great things. I just have to trust, have faith, and follow Him. He'll take care of the rest.
Be blessed!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Oh life...

....life is so good. It's summer time. And, oh, how I ADORE summer!!! This has been my first summer in quite a few that I have not been a student. And I'm LOVING it!!

I've been working on my photography (so much fun!!!) Here are some neat shots I've gotten recently.....




This little guy likes to hang out on the antenna of my car....

I LOVE this one...it looks like he's smiling...

We got some really green bananas so I took pictures of them out in the yard...


So that's pretty much life right now...just enjoying the summer, taking it all one day at a time...

I'll update again soon.... :0)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

My sister...

...is just so beautiful.
I took some pictures of her today and this is one of my favorites...


Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Picnik...

...I have recently discovered www.picnik.com. It is truly a WONDERFUL site!! You can upload your photos and edit them in all sorts of cool ways. It has become my new obsession! :0) Here are few of the things I have done so far...











So...it's been a while....

I got so caught up with work and school that I wasn't really able to update at all during the second semester of the school year. Oops!! (Although, I'm not all that sure that anyone reads this thing anyway....but I'll update just in case) I'm hoping that now that life has 'slowed down' somewhat, I'll be better at keeping this thing updated.



Let's see...what has happened since I last updated???



I graduated!!! I finished May 9, 2008 with my Educational Specialist degree from Liberty University! I am so excited to be done!!! :0) I'm done with school for a while (at least for about 20 years...) I've decided that I might go back and get my Doctorate after I have kids and they are grown, just a few years before I retire (that way I can retire on Doctorate pay). So that's the plan for now....



School's out for summer!! The last day for my kiddos was May 30th. Then I worked June 2 - 3 and a couple extra days after that getting some things done in the classroom. I tell you what, I really loved my little group of kids this year. They were so precious! Never a dull moment in my classroom :0)



I bought myself a couple of graduation presents :0) I finally got myself an iPod!! It's PINK!! And I love it! :0) I also bought myself a new camera - I love it too!!! I've been enjoying working on my photography skills over the past couple weeks!!


So that's pretty much life right now....nothing too fascinating. I'm posting some pictures that I've taken with my new camera :0) Enjoy!!



Here's my new camera :0)




Here are some pictures I took with my new camera....


Mrs. Deborah's chickens....








Some flowers in the backyard....





Family pictures...



Some of my boys...

My girls...

Me & Charlie...