Prayer's for my nephew Joshua~

Well, my trip to San Diego in June is not happening....

I can't feel disappointed though, because what happens happens, right?

I do, however, feel really bad for Josh.  He tore his tricep during an obstacle course drill, and it is going to set him back 3 weeks.  Not only that, he will have to join in on another platoon, or whatever they call it.  He has just sent a letter saying he was finally getting to know his bunk mates, and now he has to start fresh in a new one, where they all know each other...

So please pray for Josh, pray for quick healing, pray that his spirit will not be broke, and that he will continue to look ahead, and know that in God's timing he will come out of this a Marine.

Singing and Songs always soothe my soul~

Ever since I was a little girl you would find me singing.  Oh how I loved to sing!!  My love for song continues throughout my life.  It has played many roles.  It is soothing at times, at times it is heart breaking, at times it is used as an outlet.  My love of music stopped for a while after Danny died.  Probably because we shared such a close love for it together...I often sang to his piano music.  He often called me up so I could hear the newest song he'd written, or just his own rendition of an already popular one.  I find myself being drawn back into the comfort of song as time heals my heart though...which brings me to this:

Last night I was watching American Idol, and this gal sang "Daniel" by Elton John.  **BAM** that's all it took.  I had to stop the tears that were begging to flow down my face as I listened to it...
I believe everyone has their own interpretation of every song out there, but boy I gotta tell you as I listened to her voice singing these lyrics, it brought forth some pretty major sadness...
The song is sung by Elton John, and here are the lyrics:


Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes

They say Spain is pretty though I've never been
Well Daniel says it's the best place that he's ever seen
Oh and he should know, he's been there enough
Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much

Daniel my brother you are older than me
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died but you see more than I
Daniel you're a star in the face of the sky

Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
Oh God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes.....

Often when I am missing Danny, and if I'm home alone so I can allow myself to fully feel, I pull out and play his piano CD's.  So I pulled one out and the first song that started playing was "DANIEL"....Wow....
Just writing it makes me want to cry again...  :O)  (in a good way)

The next 3 songs were ones that I sang at church with his CD accompanying me in the background.
I sang my heart out to each and every one of those songs!!  I finished it with "It Is Well With My Soul".

"When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrow like sea billows roll,
whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul."

And indeed it is well with my soul.

Our cute lil caterpillar spun its cocoon!!

Well, I am sad to say one of the caterpillars has died..  :O(
But the other one has spun its cocoon.  Maybe this isn't interesting to y'all, but I think it is awesome!!
We are so excited to see if the cute lil thing pulls through, so we can watch it fly into the spring air..

We did our dreaded taxes... not as bad as I thought they'd be.  The good news is now we will be able to get THE FENCE I HAVE WANTED FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS!!!!!!  I am hoping we get to put up a privacy fence...I am beyond psyched!!  I live in a very dysfunctional neighborhood, and being able to have that privacy in my backyard would be fantastic.  I have neighbors who are always "watching" in the front of the house, so being able to hunker down in the back would be sweeet!

We are also going to be giving Emily her own bed room finally....She will be 10 in June, and we figure she's at an age where she needs to have her own place.  We're going to paint Jon's old room, and either put down new carpet, or *hopefully* a wood floor.  We have a dresser I'm getting from my parents, and we just need to get a new mattress and she'll be good to go.  She is excited to have an official sleep over in her own room.

Umm....not sure what else to say?  I am enjoying the weather, it is beautiful.  I have this great trail that I love to walk on.  When the sun is setting it is an amazing sight....did I already write about my trail?  Sounds familiar as I am writing about it...

Well, that's it for now I guess.
Take care to all my loved ones,
Kristy

Off to Brainerd!!

Today, me and the kids are going to Brainerd to spend the day with Sami and James.  I always enjoy that trip.  They have a nice house that has such a beautiful wooded back yard.  Sami is breeding and showing rabbits now, so she has lots of soft, cute, cuddly wabbits for the kids to hold and play with.  She just bought a "bigger" kid friendly rabbit for James, and she let him name him whatever he wanted.  James chose the name Richard.  I don't know why, but that made me laugh pretty hard... what 3 year old names their rabbit Richard?  James is so adorable, I just love that little man.  He is a busy little guy who is too smart for his own good.  He is very, very smart.  I don't say that cuz I'm his aunt either.  Fact is fact.  :O)

So, enjoy your Saturday, enjoy the weather, and I know I will as I get to go love up my littlest nephew...

Want to go out to dinner?

Don't ask me that anymore.  I am going to have to give ya some tough love love and tell you to quit stuffing your face and start cleaning your house....AND you better do it while wearing skinny jeans so your hubby can take a peek at your butt when he wants.

OK.  So I've concluded that in order for me to be a "Godly" wife, I am going to have to do a few things: (this is what I got out of the sermon at church anyway....)

1) develop an eating disorder so my weight comes off quickly
2) wear skinny jeans and high heels
3) clean my house so that it is immaculate and if I don't have time, hire a house keeper.
Yep.  That is what makes a good wife.  While I'm at this, I might get a nose piercing too.
How many of my sistas want to join me?

Hee hee.  That's what I thought.  I think its a crock of crap.  I think my husband married me knowing full well who I am and how I dress and he better love me no matter what clothes I am wearing.
I think my house is not a sty.  Its lived in.  Not immaculate.  I'm OK with that.  It took me years to get over some major OCD in regards to a clean house.  I'm sure God blesses my home whether its super clean or not.  I know I am healthier now then when I would literally crawl on my hands and knees plucking dog hair out of the carpet.  It was a very sick time in my life and I will NEVER relive that.

When I dress in my baggy clothes, I am not drawing any attention to myself.  Only my husband knows what is beneath.  I think that is way sexier than any skinny jeans, plus, that way you are not drawing other men's attention to your body, which in itself is a sin. (technically)

I do not hardly ever wear any make up.  I think this is OK too!  I have natural beauty, and I do NOT have to hide behind foundation, blush, eyeliner and red lips.  My beauty comes from inside, and it outshines any Maybelline product.

I think God blesses the wife who is long suffering.  The wife who is strong.  Stable.  The woman who is a good mother.  Who supports her husband.  Who worships God and lets Him live through her.

The woman who is faithful to her husband.

Last time I checked I can do all that in my sweats and t shirts....
And God does NOT care.

OK.  I am done.  This has bothered me for a while, and I had to get it off my chest.
Now maybe I will stop carrying this frustration with me.

Have a blessed day!!  Kudos to every wife out there no matter what you wear.

Today's Gift~

Where is the yesterday that worried us so?
—Joan Walsh Anglund

In the fairy tale The Last Dream of the Old Oak Tree, the oak tree felt sorry for the dayfly. The dayfly only lives for one day, and the tree was already 365 years old. But the dayfly was so enjoying his one-day that the tree's sympathy puzzled him. The dayfly said to the tree, "You may have thousands of my days, but I have thousands of moments to be pleased and happy in."

And so the dayfly continued to dance in the sun and smell the clover and honeysuckle. His day ended as happily as he spent it, and he settled down on a blade of grass.

If all of us could approach our day the way the dayfly does, as though this were our only day, we would spend less time worrying about yesterday and tomorrow.

How can I show my gratitude for the gift of this day?

From Today's Gift

Its been a while~

So its been a while since my last post.  A whole lot of nothing going on I guess.  Kids have been home of Spring break, and since we aren't one of those lucky families who get to take vacations while on break, its been very long, and very boring.  We don't have kids in the neighborhood for Caleb, so he spends lots of time alone..  :O(
Emily has her best friend Koriah, but that's about it.  I did take advantage of $5 movie day at the Andover Cinema and we saw a movie on Tuesday.  Troy took me out on a "date" Friday night.  Within 10 minutes his phone was ringing with Caleb on the other end asking "are you gonna bring us home food???"  heh heh.

Its been nice having Michael home for the week as well.  We don't really see him much when he's back, but its still nice to know he's safe and sound.  He's doing great in school, and currently looking for a job as he's moving into a house in Duluth June 1st.  Dorm living is driving him insane.  He has a whacked out room mate.

In June I get to go to San Diego to see my nephew's graduation from Marine Boot Camp.  Do you know that I have NEVER seen the ocean?  Words simply do not describe how excited I am to be able to make this trip. 

We did try out The Crossing.  I could do without the music, as its a little too hard for me, but the preaching was great.  We are going again tonight.  Its a 2 week sermon on the differences of male and female.  The roles of male/female according to God.  I will find out tonight just how much I am failing in that area...but that's OK!!  How do you mend a marriage if you don't know what's expected of you.

Jon is going through some trying times right now, and I ask that all who read this pray for my boy.  Pray that he will shine through the darkness that is taunting him right now.  We've had to make some changes in regards to his visits with his dad, as some things have come to light as of late, and now the healing and tools need to be gathered so that Jon may proceed in life as a strong, equipped young man.
God has been working in him lately as well.  His heart is very tender and hungry for the Lord right now.
I pray that God will work wonders in Jon, and that Jon will not ignore that tug of the Holy Spirit he has been feeling, as that is where all the answers he's searching for lie.

I guess last but not least, (for now anyway) LAST fall Emily found 2 caterpillars and decided she wanted to keep them through the winter so they could build a cocoon in the Spring.  She was convinced they wouldn't survive the winter all alone.  She took an empty tennis ball container, poked holes in the top, filled it with grass and sticks and stuck the caterpillars in the jar.  She put the container in our garage so that they would go into hibernation.  Well, I just assumed that due to the circumstances, when Emily decided to check on her little project she'd be disappointed to see that they went into permanent hibernation... 
Mom was wrong.  Yesterday she took the container into the house, opened the top, took out the caterpillars, and sure enough those suckers were alive!!  I could NOT believe it.  They came out of their hibernation, eating Strawberry and Spinach leaves...
So now she is going to give them each their own home, (via separate containers) and see if they won't build a cocoon (how the heck do you spell that??) and turn into the little moths they are destined to become!!
Maybe Spring is here to stay now, eh?  I sure hope so.  And I hope that Emily is able to witness this circle of life from beginning to end.  That would be awesome.  Plus, its made her stop begging for a hamster...

Have a blessed day!

I dislike the snow quite a little bit....

Actually, I think snow itself is beautiful.  The way it falls so gently, each snow flake its own unique pattern.  The way it looks on the trees in the morning, the cool snow forts my kids can make out of it. 
So I guess its the driving in snow that I dislike quite a little bit.. :O)
I have always been this way.  It truly brings me into a major state of anxiety when I know I have to go driving in the snow.  It doesn't matter if its  2 inches or a foot.  I have this irrational fear of getting into an accident, going into the ditch because I lose control, etc....I panic and I think about it non stop the day before I know I have to go out in it....crazy huh? 

So while I am contemplating my drive in the snow, (I have to go into work today) I am reading from one of my devotionals, and guess what?  Yep!  You got it.  Once again, I was listening, and once again God talked to me.  Here is what He told me:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 NASB

 

He is so amazing.  He has His ways, doesn't He?  I just love it.  I love how when you keep your heart open, you hear Him.  And it brings comfort.  And peace.  And joy. 

 

Guess I better clean the car off and get ready to go into work.

 

Have a blessed day, and may you feel the Lord's presence within you.  And may you be still long enough to hear what He needs you to hear today.

 

 

Cast all your cares upon Him~

An excerpt from the book "The Ego-Less self" by Cardwell Nuckols really struck a chord with me, and I hope you find encouragement from it as well.

"Life places us in positions where there seem to be no answers or options, no door available to us for escape. The end of the line or end of hope is the crucial point. When you are down to nothing, God is up to something on your behalf. There is always an opportunity, a spiritual opportunity. And that is what these moments of distress are all about. When you feel overwhelmed, know that God is never overwhelmed."

Trouble Sleeping?

Last night I had Troy get me some Chinese Food because, well, because food always makes you feel better, right?  ;O)

When I opened up my fortune cookie this is what it said:

"Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow."

That really struck a chord with me.  It is so true.
If we just had enough faith, and enough submissiveness to hand it all over to God,
we'd be just fine!!  I know for me, I have no problem handing it all over to Him.  Its not taking it back I struggle with.  I know He knows best, I know I am in the best hands possible when He has all my worries, but I still want to take it back and try it "my way" again, and again and again.
Like Dr. Phil would say "How's that workin for ya"?
Not so good!!

As for the sleeping thing, its true.  I sleep horribly.  It takes me hours to fall asleep, and usually its because my mind won't shut up.  Thoughts race through my mind, worries, plans for the next day, etc...and once I finally fall asleep you bet I will be up atleast 3x that night, my mind picking up where it left off last.

So thank you, Mr. Fortune Cookie.
Today I will work on my faith, and not taking my worries back from God.
I think I'll try to let Him keep them this time.
Because faith makes one fine pillow.

Have a wonderful day!