What Did You Do With What I Gave You?

My devotional today really hit home. When our culture tells us to focus on the "I wants" in our life it is hard to picture the day ahead for us when the Lord is going to ask for an account of what we did with the gifts He gave us. I certainly don't want to have to explain that I used them all for myself.

One thing that I keep coming back to is my dancing. Our church has just built an amazing new children's building and is looking for new volunteers to help with all of the new opportunities it has opened up. How wonderful would it be to get the chance to start a ballet ministry through this new addition to our church and get back to doing what fills my heart with joy: worshiping the Lord through dance.

I need to start praying really hard about this and see if this is what God has planned for me right now. I hesitate to jump into something that would take time away from my family without first praying about it, even if it is "church-related".

I hope that these daily devotionals with help ease my daily worrying and that God will really give me a clear direction of His will for my life this year. I believe that it could have some incredible surprises!

Tithing Update

It's almost the end of our first month tithing. When we checked our mail yesterday we found a surplus check from one of our accounts waiting for us. Dru also got a phone call a few days ago asking if he could do some work for someone in recreation, so there's some extra income there too!

But above all, the best thing I have received this month is the daily practice of putting all my faith in the Lord to provide. I know I worry too much, but I'm praying daily that it gets easier and easier for me to trust Him and let go to all of my worrying.

We will be tithing again at the beginning of next month.

First Kiss!

Not even three and Susan caught the affection of a sweet little boy last week. As she was running through the fountains at Sea World a little boy not much older than her accidently knocked her down. Realizing what he had done, he quickly turned around and put his arms around her to help her up. But instead of turning his mind back to the splashing water, he gave her a sweet little kiss on her forehead. My in-laws said it was the sweetest moment on the trip for them!

Avoiding the "Pitch"

I feel like a huge financial weight has been lifted!

Now, I'll be the first to tell you that I don't usually make snap decisions, but if you dangle a "great" deal on dancing lessons in front of me then you've hit my weakness.

What started out as a deal on lessons soon turned into something that was going to swallow my bank account whole! I hadn't officially signed anything on the dotted line yet, but just my interest in the deal seemed to have spawned the idea that I was committed one hundred percent. I started getting nervous. The amount they wanted me to pay was substantial and I started worrying that somehow I was already committed and that it was going to be impossible to back out.

I did a lot of praying in the car ride over to talk one last time about my "deal". I typically get caught up in trying to please people and forget that I should be able to set the parameters since I am the customer. Right? So I prayed for strength and guidance and laid all the cards out on the table.

The Lord must have heard my prayers, because they listened with understanding and fixed everything immediately. No more large sum due! I was so nervous that they would try to hit me up for some other "amazing dance package" and that I wouldn't be able to get out of the mess I had created by not asking enough questions to begin with.

I don't do well when I feel like I'm being pressured into something and unfortunately I usually cave into whatever the offer is. Especially when it's something I'm passionate about. But I stood my ground, with a lot of help, and successfully made it out of what could have really ruined my bank account for good.

Another Sunday

There are so many nice things about having a summer off. Besides the obvious (vacations!) I like having the chance to make new goals for myself and trying to break bad habits and basically doing a self make-over, if necessary, to make sure that I'm living the life I want to lead.

I heard some things in church this morning that really spoke to my heart. And if Jesus came back tomorrow, I would definitely want to make sure that I wasn't ashamed or embarrassed by how he saw me living.

1. I worry so much about things on this earth that are temporary. Colassions 3 is an excellent chapter to remind me to set my mind on things above instead of the things that will fade away. I've got to quit freaking out about money issues (there will be many times in life when the wallet is tight...) and start appreciating these moments that I have with my family, because there are no guarauntees we will all be together and healthy tomorrow.

2. I need to pray more. Period. How many times have I already stressed out about whether or not I should continue ballroom dancing, or worrying about saving for Susan's college, or about how many nights a week I should be away from home teaching dance when the truth is I haven't been praying about these things at all.

But I am encouraged. The quickest way to relieve myself of needless worrying is to lay it all down and I certainly have been blessed with enough reminders to do just that.
I feel taken care of today and my heart is at peace.
Everything is going to work out. After all, this world isn't my home, I'm just passing through.

In-Laws

I just have to say that I have been completely blessed as far as in-laws go. Not many women can say that they enjoy shopping trips with their mother-in-law or can talk with them for hours about all of life's troubles and then find yourself laughing so hard that you cry!

I just finished a nice little facebook chat with my own wonderful mother-in-law. I was teasing her about facebook just last night...right after our dance party in the living room. Both of my husband's parents have really taken me in like a daughter of their own and I hope they know how blessed I feel to have them in my life.

Changes

Just came back from another awesome afternoon at the beach! Check out my precious daughter trying to throw all of the sand back into the water. :)

Made some changes to the layout and colors. What do you think?

Beach Livin'

Spent some wonderful time out on the beach today! All it takes is some time out in the sun with sand between your toes, looking out into emerald water to really put your "problems" in perspective.

Susan has totally become a beach girl and it's all we can do to get her out of the water and back on the sand. We jumped over waves and watched schools of fish swim around our legs.

At one point we did see some mysterious black object moving out there, but we convinced ourselves it was seaweed. It was only when we got back under our umbrella that Dru told us there had been four rangers following that same shadow and wondering what it might be...

We're looking a little red now, but here's to clear weather tomorrow and more beach livin!!

Parenting Philosophy from MTV?

Spending some quality time with my cousin today, just relaxing on the couch. It's funny how terribly scripted shows like "World's Strictest Parents" on MTV can lead to such in depth conversations about parenting! We can't get over how aweful these teenagers are!

So I guess these kids' own parents haven't instilled enough respect in them themselves so they have to go live with a "strict" family for a week. These two kids we're watching now haven't even been there for an hour and they're yelling at them and going off to smoke cigarettes, cussing.

We didn't grow up in the strictest of families either, but how self-obsorbed do you have to be to be that disrespectful to complete strangers? Unbelieveable! Susan better watch out the day that she ever treats someone like that!....I'm thinking of all the channels on TV that I'm going to have to block when she gets older.:)

I wish my parents were here to see all that I've accomplished. To see my classroom and look at what my kids have learned. To take a tour of our first house and talk about redecorating. To see my little girl and hear how much she reminds them of me.

I wish they were here so I could call them up whenever I have a bad day and need come encouragement. But most of all, I wish they were here so that their granddaughter could know them and know what amazing people they were.

Today's Simple Pleasures

1. Getting a "monkey hug" from Susan.
2. Building a fort out of blankets in the living room.
3. Watching my two year old devour a watermelon.
4. Workin the cha cha in my dance lesson.
5. Playing hide and seek...("Daddy, come find us!")
6. Snuggling on the couch.

Thoughts on Prayer...

"As we come to know Him better, we shall spend more time in His presence and find that presence a constant and ever-increasing delight."

"God must help people by prayer. Those who do not pray rob themselves of God's help and place God where He cannot help people."

"Prayer is not a meaningless function or duty to be crowded into the busy or the weary ends of the day. We are not obeying our Lord's command when we content ourselves with a few minutes on our knees in the morning rush or late at night when our bodies are calling out for rest."

Happy Fourth!

9:00 pm; sitting in the parking lot of the commons, watching fireworks with my little girl asleep in my lap. Life is good!

New Goals

I have a challenge for myself and I'm excited to see what happens! I'll admit that Dru and I have not been tithing to a church for sometime and I really feel like we're missing out on the promises that God will bless a cheerful giver.

Perhaps it is hard for non-believers to understand this logic, but I think that by giving up a piece of our income we will actually start to find peace about our finances. It will become an act in trusting God to provide for us and thanking Him for all that He has blessed us with.

I can't wait to see where our faith in Him takes us!

Being Happy

I don't think it's any secret that women are constantly measuring themselves up against one another. Sometimes we catch ourselves thinking, "she can juggle all of those things and still look so happy, why can't I?"

In my twenties, I find myself looking at all my girlfriends out there living life, not married yet and with no kids, and it's easy to start feeling like I'm missing out. They can upload tons of pictures of themselves doing all kinds of interesting things in all kinds of interesting places, and I'm lucky if I even think of taking a picture between laundry loads and diaper changes.

But the truth is, I wouldn't trade my life for anything! One moment of snuggling with my daughter holds more satisfaction then anything money can buy.

After losing my parents, all I ever dreamed about was starting a family of my own. I can remember my last year in college thinking, "What in the world do I want to do with the rest of my life?" All I ever knew for sure was that I didn't want to spend it alone.

I can't imagine life without my little girl and my husband. We're even talking now about adding on to our family soon. (Which basically, would mean even less sleep:) )And while we don't get a lot of time to ourselves and we certainly aren't traveling to exotic places or wearing designer clothes, we both feel fulfilled in our lives.

Good Times

Just reminiscing about wonderful times with old friends. I love you Bryson!!!

Not Gonna Worry

Okay. Dru and I have spent so much money on courses for our permenant teaching certificate and it feels like the numbers just get higher and higher. But I've finally just decided that I can't worry and stress out about our finances to the extent that I withdraw from my family. I keep telling myself that it won't always be like this, living from paycheck to paycheck, and that the Lord is going to provide what we need. The only time I need to be afraid is if I start relying on myself for everything instead of God. Some days I just have to remind myself like every hour.

Man v. Food

So Dru and I have stumbled upon this show that takes you on a tour of awesome local food spots and ends with the host trying to complete some sort of outrageous food challenge. I'm sitting here watching him trying to eat a 12 lb burger and my heart is literally starting to hurt! What kind of health insurance does this guy have? :) This could be a sure fire way for me to swear off fast food.

My Husband

I have to take a minute and brag about my husband. I'm teaching dance classes over the summer and taking more then a few for myself and so it's taken me away from home alot. With all the time that I'm away, my husband does such a wonderful job of taking care of our daughter and I know it wears him out! She's only two. But he never complains and instead I'll come home and find him buried under stuffed animals or busy reading the same story over again for the fiftieth time. He's just wonderful!