Just What I Needed

One thing I was so excited about in moving back home was spending more time with my sweet niece and nephew. Here is a few pictures I took of them while I had a chance to babysit this morning. The last picture is Annie with her sweet little cousin playing dress-up.

Have a happy and safe Halloween tonight! I have a life size Barbie, a precious pirate, and an Aggie Football player in my bunch this evening. How about you?

God Lifts A Heavy Heart

Over the last week and a half there is a battle going on in my life I haven't shared with all my blogging friends. It has to do with my church, and people I love. I wish I could say, it will all be over with soon, but God is the only one with the future in His hands. I questioned for so long why my house has not sold over the past 11 months, but now I see so very clearly what my heavenly Father was protecting me from had I moved on earlier than I did. All I can say about the current situation is that Skip and I are following God alone, trusting God alone, and crying out to God alone. I want so badly for the trials and the hurts to just go away, but I would miss out on the teaching and the blessings that will follow our obedience. Just pray for us, our friends, our church, and our perseverence. I know I'm being vague, but there is so much uncertainty and people's feelings at stake, that I want to keep it brief. Just pray for us all. God gave me this verse yesterday, and I believe it is a personal promise to me.
"I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13-14 A personal thank you to Liana for prompting me to read through my favorite psalms for comfort and guidance.

What a Klutz!

The other night Skip called me to come outside and hang out in the back yard with him and the kids. The only way to get to the outside deck is to walk through the sunroom, which is Ashley's room. I thought it looked a little hazy outside, but it WAS starting to get dark. I walked through the hazy opening, and realized I was walking through a screen door. I caught myself, but the door hit the deck and everyone died laughing. Of course, no one even checked to see if I was okay, which I was. When they finally stopped the hysterical hoots of laughter, I told Skip, "I didn't even see the screen. I thought it was just hazy out." That sent roars of laughter once again because all of them thought I just accidently hit the screen off the the hinges, not that I actually didn't see the screen and walked right through it. I think I might be checking for a Lasik's doctor in the near future.

Awesome Day...Awesome God!

I woke this morning a little nervous about my new bible study beginning today because I knew there would be some new ladies, and I wanted them to feel welcome and accepted. My study girls made them feel more than welcome. It was probably one of the best times I've ever had beginning a new study. God answered my prayers and the Angela Thomas study made the ladies laugh, cry and excited to hear more. If you have not read "A Beautiful Offering", please do. It is my second time to lead this study, and I am so excited to see what God will teach me next.

Here are two of my munchkins playing poker on my bed with their daddy. We don't have blinds yet so I have a lovely blue velour blanket hanging on my window. Such a classy look, don't ya think? My dear MIL came over today to help me decorate for fall. I didn't have to buy one thing because she has such a knack for taking what I do have and changing it up a bit. I love everything! I will post pics of the kitchen and some of the other rooms as I finish. I am loving this house more and more each minute I'm here.

A Whirlwind Weekend

First of all, welcome to my new home! The fall wreath is on the door, my coffee is hot and fresh, and my family IS together. Praise God!!! Not to mention, as I was walking the trash out this morning, I felt the very first cold front of the year blow in all around me. Oh, it felt so wonderful! I wanted to do cartwheels in the front yard, but I saw Mr. Seuss across the street and I thought better save that for another day. Isn't that cute that I have the Seuss family for neighbors? Neither he or his wife are doctors, but he does have a relative that is one.

Friday was crazy. That is about all I can say to describe the actual move day. From all our stuff not fitting into the moving truck, to the movers getting lost on route, to walking in to a very disasterous sight of carpet people and a cleaning crew. I left the sight to go get everyone Chick-Fil-A and I had a complete emotional breakdown with my sister on the phone. I now realize it had so much to do with all that had led up to the move. I was leaving close friends who had become my family, I was taking quite a step down in living, you know the theme song of the Jefferson's kept playing in my head(only the opposite), and I could only see the mess and overwhelming job I had ahead of me. Not to mention we found out that one of our close friends we hadn't seen in about a year had suddenly died from a heart attack leaving a wife and two young girls behind. In addition to all of this, I was having PMS. I wish I had a recording of the conversation because I sounded like a spoiled rotten child and I think I actually said something like, "I don't even have a garden tub, and there are stains on the bathtub, and my furniture doesn't even fit." My sister just let me cry and vent probably got off the phone and died laughing. I would have. Anyway, after spending my kid's college tuition on Chick-Fil-A for everyone and their dog, I drove home and just prayed. I prayed that God would let me see what a blessing this house was going to be, and that I would fall in love with it. The second I walked back in the door, I noticed a totally different perspective. The kids were exploring and running to me with excited voices. Ashley was so excited about the sunroom which we are turning into her teenage haven. I also noticed that I have a skylight in my bathroom, and the master is the coolest(as in temp.) room in the house. Awesome! That has never been the case for us before.

Saturday was spent putting in shelf paper, unpacking boxes, hanging sheets on the windows until the new blinds get installed, and enjoying a home cooked meal from one of the ladies in my new bible study. Thanks Jennifer! (Not that a single one of these ladies in my study know I have a blog or much less do they use a computer.) I'm not kidding. Only 5 out of my 12 ladies use an email.

Sunday began with the most incredible service I've been to at church so far. Music was amazing, and our friend Erik had his first weekend at Parkway. He is the sound, tech, lights, volunteer guru, Skip's right arm EVERYTHING production man. It was only his first week and the stage, and lights made me think I was somewhere else. Great job Erik! The best part of Erik coming on staff at Parkway is that his wife Laura is one of my bestest girlfriends. She isn't coming for a while because she has to sell the house and finish school this semester. I can't wait to have them here! Right after church, Skip and I did a mad rush back to Corpus so that he could do music for our friend's memorial service. I cried for a solid hour listening to the words of "I Will Walk By Faith", "You Never Let Go", and "I Can Only Imagine", and Bil spoke so beautifully about our friend who passed. He spoke directly to those precious girls who lost their daddy, and told them that he just went to sleep and woke up in the arms of Jesus. It was so sad. A happy note was seeing all the beautiful friends from Bay Area again. Many I had not seen in six months.

Thanks again for all the prayers and encouragement. I do not have an email to respond to you at this moment, but I look forward to talking to all of you soon. God bless and have a wonderful week!

How I'm Feeling

This is my range of emotions right now. I am so excited that in two days I am moving to my new home to be with my hubby. On the other hand I am scared, nervous and sad to leave what has been my home for the last 8 and a half years. I have spent some quality time with a few of my friends here the last couple of days, and it really hit me that I'm leaving.

Skip has found a rent house for us in a great neighborhood, and we were given such a wonderful gift to help us the first few months. The house is smaller and older, but it will be just perfect for us for the next year. I have learned so much about being content over the past six months since Skip began his new position that I know God will provide us with all that I need. We will keep our house on the market and pray it sells quickly. I wish I could share with you all the wonderful memories I have in Corpus, but I am crying so badly just typing this sentence I know I couldn't even get through it. My friends I am leaving behind, I will miss you so much. You have to come and visit me! I know of some great downtown restaurants, antique stores and coffee shops I would love to take you too.

We are basically taking everything with us because we don't want to move twice. I know a lot of people say an empty house doesn't sell as well as a furnished one, but since our house is only two and a half years old, most of our competition is new homes. Let's pray that this faith step of moving forward will be the best choice ever. Our God is so good, and I'm continuing to believe the best for our situation. I want to lift up in prayer my next door neighbor (whose name is also Susie) who has a house in New Mexico that has not sold, and my neighbor Janet, whose husband is already working in Dallas and has not sold her house. And I could not forget sweet Linda at Middle Years and Laurel Wreath, who are both in a similiar situation.

Dallas Cowboy Sunday Review

It was awesome!!! I'm not talking about the game in which they lost this afternoon, but I'm referring to Dallas Cowboy Sunday at Parkway Church today. With the lights down low, the drummer started worship with a little rendition of "We will, we will, rock you..." Probably three quarters of the congregation in both services were dressed in their favorite NFL or College team jerseys and t-shirts. Some of the truly devoted fans even did a little face painting. Skip led us in getting as pumped about Jesus as we do while watching our favorite team play. I heard later that a couple or two walked out of service at the thought of singing that kind of song at church. I guess that it's okay to sing along at a game, but there is something too sacred about a church doing such a thing. They should have stayed for ten seconds longer because the worship band led right into "Come, Now is the Time to Worship." Everyone was on their feet singing praises to God in the most beautiful chorus of voices. Do you know that as a new person(most likely a lost person) visiting our church for the first time, they may have felt at ease coming in and hearing a familiar tune? Skip worked all week on some wonderfully edited clips from months ago when he visited the Dallas Cowboy training camp, and Pastor Les did an excellent job of teaching about being committed in our walk with God. Overall the weekend was a huge success, and we give all the praise to our Lord. Driving home today, I couldn't stop thinking about those few people walking out of church. These were our members, and they are already saved. Have we forgotten about the next generation and doing whatever it takes to reach them? Everything that our staff did this weekend was prayed over, done in a godly way, and with much thought for the lost. Coming out of service, there was an excitement and a desire to invite neighbors and friends to come share in what God's doing at Parkway church. Shouldn't you always leave church with a passion to know more and to tell others the good news? I think so and THAT HAPPENED TODAY!

Here We Go Again...

I am laughing hysterically right now. I just got a call from Skip and he said, "Are you ready for this?" After months of disappointment, I now laugh at those words. Well, I could have guessed before the words escaped his mouth. You know the blessing? The house we were renting this next week in Victoria? Well... it sold last night. I am NOT kidding you. No interest in months and months, and it sold last night. Skip said, " I guess God is trying to tell us something." Skip expected me to cry, yell, beat my chest or something. No, that was the old Susie, the one that wasn't use to change, wasn't use to having my hopes crushed a thousand times. Nope, I am just fine. I am actually smiling because I know without a shadow of a doubt that God is in control and wants something else for us. Skip has the busiest weekend ever coming up, but now he is trying to find another house to rent. Can you see that Satan may be trying to distract Skip a little? I refuse to look at it that way. I think God has an even better plan for us, and we need to pray steadfastly that it will be revealed very soon. Hang in there with me guys. What a ride!!!

We're MOVING!!!

No, we still have not sold the house. We are, however, moving into a rent house in Victoria sometime within the next week. I have prayed, waited, and cried so many times these past 11 months and now, finally the wait is over. Skip has had enough. We are blessed with a four bedroom home in exactly the same neighborhood that we lived in previously 9 years ago. It is going to be a little smaller living space, but this smile on my face right now is bigger than it's been in a very long time. I have so much to do in so little time, but I have three able-bodied children to help me. I think it is going to be a school holiday for a few days, or else I will go mad. Will some home school mom comment and let me know that this is okay to do? I am so worried about taking time off, when no one really cares or is checking up on me. I know you veteran home schoolers are shouting, "Rookie!" Anyway, thank you for your prayers, and please continue to cover my house in prayers. We had another showing today! Yay!


BTW- How bout them Cowboys last night! My neighbors probably were close to calling the authorities what with all the screaming and hollering going on in my house. What a game! And guess what? We are having Dallas Cowboy Sunday at church this weekend! Everyone dresses up in their favorite sports team attire, and we just all have a blast praising God and worshiping together. It is just a fun outreach to bring people to church, and then we share the good news with them. It was such an answer to prayer that the Cowboys won this week.

If anyone needs me, I will be around buried in boxes.

Some Inspiration For Losing Weight

I won't lie to you. Being on a diet is HARD!!! Luckily, I have some inspirational shows to watch since Skip is hardly ever home. I've been watching The Biggest Loser, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team Part 2, and now I Want To Look Like a High School Cheerleader Again. I am not a huge tv watcher, but I found myself wanting to do situps, lift weights, and do some pushups while I'm watching these shows. Does anybody else but me want to throw up when they tell a girl in Cowboys training camp that she needs to tone up and lose some of her tummy area, when I would DIE to have the girl's stomach. Okay, maybe I'm crazy, but I never looked that good in my early twenties. If I did have a flat stomach in high school or college, that's not all that was flat. Anyway, I am pressing on while madly craving a slice of turtle cheesecake. Keep me accountable ladies. I'm almost on day 7-Woohoo!

Thankful Thursday (on Wednesday)

Thursday will be a crazy day tomorrow because of a field trip, so I thought I would go ahead and share some of my thankfuls from this week

*Homeschooling is going well (not perfect), but I feel we are all learning and doing our best each day. We went to the Aransas Pass Aquatic Center last Thursday, and we literally had the place to ourselves for about an hour and a half. There were more lifegards than kids.

*The new healthy lifestyle has started to pay off. I've lost 4 pounds and I am just starting my 5th day. I know I still have about 25lbs to go, but I feel encouraged by the results so far. Unlike the Adkins diet I have done in the past, I have more energy for sure. I am eating lots of varieties of greens in my salads, some fruits, and raw nuts. I haven't had much in the way of meat, but I've never been a huge meat fan. I like grilled or baked chicken and fish, but my cook has been out of town, and he just makes it so much better.

*I am lovin' my bible study. My husband is also loving my bible study since he is reaping the benefits. The ladies in my study are the sweetest! I only wish that I had more time to get to know each of them. We do our study at the church instead of my home, so you can't just put your feet up and sip coffee from a mug. I will definitely do a home study when we move. I miss that.

*I am thankful that my son and I are having some precious moments together since the transition time began for us. For example, yesterday I went for a walk and Seth rode his scooter. We had the best time just talking and hanging out. If Skip would have been home Seth would have chosen to stay with him and talk about how the Cowboys are going to keep up their confidence throughout the season, or if Peyton Manning and Tomy Romo had a foot race -Who would win? I know these things because that is the conversations I now have with my son. While we were walking we just started to pray for some things. Seth said, "You know this is the only time I have prayed with my eyes open. If I was driving I would have to keep my eyes open too." Just some random cute talk. I love it! He told me he has been praying a lot lately for our house before he goes to bed, and for his daddy. I guess this time is so precious because I know he will leave one day and be the man of his own family. Anyway, I am just plain thankful for my little guy!

If you have a Thankful Thursday list to share of your own (on Thursday not Wednesday like me), just head over to Sting My Heart and grab the code, and then leave a link when the post is up here.