Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, friends and those I have yet to meet.

God has blessed me with a wonderful loving husband; beautiful intelligent caring daughters; extended family and friends too numerous to count.  The love that fills my heart with these blessings overflows.  I wish each and every person this love.  If you have lost someone one this year, I am praying for you this holiday season.  God is always with us.

God loves you.  I love you. And nothing you can do can change that.

Love to you all!!!

Couch to 5K

Back in June Marty and I started doing the Couch to 5K running plan.  Not really to get ready for a 5K but to get us off the couch and back to being active and healthy.  This is a 9 week program where you run 3 days of each week, so you would think we would be done by now.  LOL.  Well we're not.  Marty is way farther then me but he is going at my pace so I will keep doing it.  We are on Week 5 Day 3.  Day 3 is 5 minutes of warm up, 20 minutes of running and 5 minutes of cool down.  When we started, I could barely run for 1 minute and I could hardly imagine that I would run for 30 minutes straight.  We did Day 3 Week 5 on Sunday and I was able to run 14 minutes of the 20 minutes and travel 5 laps around the football field.  This is just amazing to me.  I have NEVER in my life ran 14 minutes for any reason.

I will let you know if I actually make it to 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Carving

We finally found a Saturday where we could make it to the pumpkin patch and get our pumpkins.  Every since we started carving pumpkins in girl scouts my girls have to carve a pumpkin each year.  It's really cool that they love it so much.  Pumpkin carving isn't something we did very much when I was young.  I only remember doing it once or twice, but it is becoming a family tradition for us.  The girls do a very good job of carving too.

Emily did a witches hat.  Erin did a laughing pumpkin and Marty did a traditional pumpkin.

Life as of Late

There has been so many things helping lately.  I have thought many times about blogging and just haven't done it. Too bad my thoughts have to go through my fingers to the keyboard to blog.  LOL.

In the last month, I have become the mom of a teenager.  Emily has grown up so fast.  It is so hard to believe that it has been 13 years since we brought her home

Back to School and back to routine

School starts in just 10 more days.  Emily is going into 7th grade and Erin into 5th.  Man, is this going fast. 

Last week we picked up Emily's schedule.  Lots of hype over getting a piece a paper.  She spent all afternoon finding out she had no classes with any of her friends.  Which I understand not having any of the electives with none of her friends because one is an athlete, one is a wanting band, one is a drama queen and Emily is into choir but her basics?  She is taking PreAP English, PreAP Math, and PreAP Science and her three best friends are too.  How many PreAP classes are there?  This is the same 350 kids she went to school with last year, come on.  Anyway, being the laid back kid she is, she wasn't upset in the least.  Just OK and prepared me a supply list to go shopping for.  Got to love that kid.  She makes my life so easy.

Now if she would just plan her 13th birthday party for me I would be all set.

Erin doesn't find out about her team until the 10th.  So we don't know if she will be with any of her friends or not.  She is patiently anticipating though.  She feels like she knows that school already from going up there for her sister's parent/teacher conferences and art night.  We shall see.  There is one friend from day care she is really wanting on her team because when they opened a new school 3 years ago and did the rezoning she was moved to another school and they no longer got to see each other.  She so wants to get to spend time with her again.

Negative vs. Positive

Wow!!!!  I was just typing a post (which I deleted before I posted it) about my job and while thinking about it and my last post I realize. "Dang I'm sure negative."  That isn't like me.  I'm always the up beat one, the Polly Anna of the group.

Never Stops, Does it?

We never out grow it do we? We never stop having those stupid high school dramas. Why is that? Why can't we grow up and just get a long? Why must we all be so self absorbed that we don't realize that others have issues too?

Christ tells us to love one another as we love ourselves. If we were to all do this I don't think this would be a problem. There wouldn't stupid issues of: "you don't ever call me." "You visit him more then you do me." "OH, you didn't invite us to the party." Why do we get our feelings hurt over, most of the time, unintentional exclusions? In high school it was because we didn't get invited to "THE" party or "THE" movie or "THE" whatever. But at what age do we stop feeling we are deliberately being cut off when most of the time it is just the lack of time people have in their busy lives.

I'm having an issue right now and I don't feel I can talk to anyone about it which is just silly because I have a ton of wonderful friends who would listen if I would just call. I know that their life is full of issues they are dealing with and so I don't want to call. What this does though, is it makes me feel like no one cares and like I'm the one always being there for them but not getting the same back. Which in turns makes me want to be there less for them because their not being there for me. Yet, I'm not giving them the chance to be either, but shouldn't they know me well enough to know what all is going on with me. Shouldn't they be calling and just checking in on me? Why must I be the one that always makes the calls? Thus a vicious cycle continues to go round.

I have tried to turn this over to Christ so many times but I am a weak, weak human and I let this chain of gloom drag me down. I love my friends, my sisters and would do anything and everything to move heaven and earth for them. I always try to put my sisters needs before my own and be Christ servant of love to all. Yet when the guilt monster comes out because one has needed more attention and thus left another feeling slighted, I can not deal. How do I get past my feeling of despair when someone feels that I'm not their "true friend" because I have not been there for them as they expect me to based solely on their view of the situation.

Sometimes I think facebook, instant messaging, twitter, text messages and voicemail have truly destroyed good friendships because us humans feel slighted when someone responds to another post but not ours, or comments on their photo but not ours, or they don't get right back to us when we sent them a text or twitter. REALLY - When will we ever stop putting so much pressure on each other to make us happy. Isn't that what we're looking for? You call me and show me I'm important to you and thus I'm happy. I call you and show you your important tome and thus your happy.

When will I fully let go and let God handle this? How many times do I have to take it to the cross? I guess Satan knows me too well and thus continues to undermine me growing in God.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Gracious father, please take these evil feelings of loneliness and despair and inadequacy away. Please help me learn to discern the issues that I should concern myself with and to let go of those that are really of no merit. Guide me each day to love and accept each person as children of yours and remind me that we each fall short of perfection. Help me to forgive those that may not understand me or who may think ill of me and learn that being liked by all is far less of importance then being loved by you. Let me find my happiness in you and the wonderful blessing you have granted me. I just want to be your daughter, to walk in your way.

With all my love,

Walk to Emmaus

The Walk to Emmaus is a very important part of mine and Marty's life and I have been asked to be a Lay Director in 2011. Basically a lay director is the person that puts the walk together for the weekend. They are responsible for getting the people to work, and organizing all the speakers and making sure all the supplies are there. It's a huge responsibility.

I'm a very organized person and have organized vacation bible school for 5 years, plus a children's ministry for 4 years, plus a girl scout troop of 10-20 girls and even a gs camp for over 150 girls. So I know I can do this BUT I'm so scared. I'm worried that no one will want to work this walk, which Marty swears is ridiculous. I'm scared that there won't be any one that is available because it is in Aug and everyone will be getting ready for back to school. I concerned about the ton of reading that a lay director must read through out the weekend. I'm concerned that I will not be a good servant and listen to what God is telling me to do.

See my walk was a pivoting point on my journey with Christ and it was because of the servants that Christ put there on the walk to help me discern the path that God had for to travel on. What if I don't LISTEN and do something more out of obligation? Stupid by most opinions I'm sure but I feel so very unworthy of this task. Christ is counting and me and I am counting on Him to see me through. I just have some doubts about my ability.

Hearing the Calling

Every since Marty went on his Walk to Emmaus walk April 2006, he has been trying to discern the feelings God has been stirring within him. Marty is a cradle Methodist, which means he was born to a family that attended church regularly all his life because they had attended church all their life and that denomination has always been Methodist.

Marty was raised in two very different Methodist churches though. His home church and the one he was baptist and confirmed in was Pulaski Height UMC in Little Rock and it is very high church. They are televised and have 4 or 5 associate pastors as well as the senior pastor. Then there was his Grandmother Bowie's church in rural McCool, Mississippi. That church had an a circuit pastor, which they shared with two other churches. The pastor would preach at one church, travel to the next and preach and then travel to the last church and preach. The congregation was small, maybe 10 or 20 when Marty was growing up with those hard pews with no padding and there was a little elderly woman who always played the piano. It was a very broad church experience to say the least.

Pastors are also common in his family. His Uncle John (Dad's older brother) is a retired United Methodist pastor and John's son Scott is a United Methodist pastor.

Well he has been wrestling with: is he or isn't he being called by God to preach. He's currently a lay speaker by taking lay speaker 1 and 2 classes offered by the United Methodist Church, but the path before him has a few options. He can try to go to seminary and become an ordained minister, he can do some seminary but only become a local pastor or he can just continue to be a lay speaker. He doesn't know which is the path that God has planned for him but today was the first of a feel many times to come.

Today I got the humbling pleasure to hear him preach for the first time. Rev. Aubrietta Jones is on maternity leave from Old Austin UMC and she had asked Marty to fill in on one of the days she was off. Today was that day. It seemed very fitting that it was Father's Day to be his first sermon. His Dad and Mother came along with me and the girls, but also Emily Bredfield brought her girls. Which was very fitting because the first person I heard express their option to Marty that he should pursue preaching was Chip. I am truly sorry that Chip wasn't here to hear him though, but Emily and the girls were there for him. I don't know who was more nervous, me or Marty but it would be close. Then during offering they played Mercy Me's song "Here with Me" and the video. I lost it. The tears started and there was just no stopping them. The pride I felt being there in the Lord's presence knowing Marty was doing something he was called to do. I can't describe it any more then I could turn the tears off. It was so awesome and he did such a great job. I couldn't be more proud.

I love you Marty. What ever path God calls you down, I will be right behind you with my love and support.

Day 2

This is only day two of trying to get my size 12 body heading to a 14 turned around into a size 12 heading to 10 or 8. I am not "depressed" but I so hate how my clothes look on me and I can't stand going shopping because of the sizes. This is really just a selfish because my wonderful husband and beautiful daughters tell me all the time that I shouldn't say I'm fat because I'm not. Well, I may not be fat but I'm not happy with my muffin top or my double chin.

So thus begins my determination to get fit. I have a friend who is fit and I want to look like that. It will not happen over night and it may not even happen in a year but it is one day at a time from here on out. I'm not dieting because diets do not work. Diets never work and please don't be offended if you think they do. Being fit is a way of life that when I was in junior high and high school I could maintain while surviving on cokes and snickers for lunch every day. But this 40 year old body is not going to be fit if I continue to have a sedimentary life. (Don't you love the fact that we grow up to get jobs to pay the bills and they turn out to be killing us slow as we sit in our cubicles?) Ooops! Sorry, don't chase that rabbit.

We are not doing much at the moment but walking the track and trying to not snack. I love to snack and my cubicle is the perfect place to snack, but again I digress. We walked 8 laps last night and sweated. Though I need to do way more of that as my fingers resemble little sausage links but which really is water retention. Too much salt in my diet. I love salt and salt loves to keep water in me.

We are talking about doing walking and bike alternatively which I love but I don't know if I get as good of an exercise with biking. I don't feel as tired when we bike. Maybe we need to do more then 18 miles but time in the evening isn't on our side.

Well, I will try to post more though I know I'm only talking to myself here. But, maybe I can hold myself accountable if I assume someone is out there reading this. Ha Ha. Let's see if this motivates me.

Time for a shower. I smell.

PS. There will be no before bikini photos for a while of this body. Like you wanted to see this in a bikini. LOL

Easter with my girls and hubby

Getting to spend the last four days going through the Passion of Christ with my girls and my hubby has been such a wonderful time.

Thursday evening we went to Old Austin UMC and celebrated Maunday Thursday together. For those that may not know what Maunday Thursday is, simple it is a communion service that focuses on the last supper the disciples shared with Christ. It just amazes me the similarities we have with the disciples on that night. The Bible doesn't tell us what each of the disciples thought that night but the general consensus is that no one actually understood what Jesus was telling them but many of them knew something special was about to take place.

Friday night we went to our church property in Greystone and celebrated Good Friday together. Readings were done by Jeff, Aubrietta, Marty and Mitch of each point of the betrayal through when Christ took His last breath. We were each given a 20 penny nail to pray over and to ponder OUR personal sins that Christ died to wash away. After the readings, we each took our nail and hammered into a cross that had been erected.

Saturday afternoon we all gathered at Magness Creek Elementary school to hunt Easter Eggs and spend some time with our church family. The girls did a great job hunting eggs and won many prizes. I was the event photographer and photographed the kids that were will with the Easter Bunny. I know, I've been asking the question and trying to find the answer too. What does a bunny and eggs have to do with Easter. When I finally find it, I will let you know.

Sunday morning we all got up and were at Cypress Creek Country Club in time for SonRise Service. It was a beautiful sunrise and a balmy 58 - 60 degrees. So much improved over the 30s and 40s of the last couple of years. It was a beautiful morning with 200+ of God's children gathered together.

Emily and Erin got wear their new Easter dresses this year and I must say, they take my breath away. God blessed me and Marty with two beautiful young women that bring nothing but smiles and pride to us. Thank you God for all the blessing you have given me, but thank you most for the blessing of your Son and the fact that I know that He died and then rose from the grave just for me.

Happy Easter everyone.

Forgiveness

Okay, for the last four weeks our church has been doing a church wide study called "Live Like You Were Dying." Yes it is based off the Tim McGraw song. It is only four weeks long and the topics have been 1) live like you are dying, 2) speak sweeter, 3) love deeper and tonight 4) give forgiveness.

Now we were charge to do a spiritual inventory of the broken relationships in our lives and then to call, visit or email those people and reconcile the relationship(s). I've been thinking about this and I sit here and struggle with the doing. Not with the reason why we need to but just the doing. I fully agree that Christ has forgiven me and all who have sinned and to be like Him, that I too must forgive. But the calling of someone who has hurt me and tell them I forgive them or someone whom I have hurt and ask them to forgive me????? How do I do that? How do I know they even give me a second thought much less care? What if it was something big to me but something they don't even remember? What if I did something that is eating away at someone that I don't now about and I miss communicating with them and asking their forgiveness?

What if...........

I can only repair myself, I know. It must start with me, I know. But where do I start, this I don't know. There in sits my dilemma. Who have I hurt? I have never meant to hurt anyone in my life. I can't stand to think that I have though I know I must have. After all, I'm human and it's our human nature.

If anyone out there is reading this and I have hurt you, please send me an email and let me know. It's not that whatever I did that hurt you doesn't matter to me but I just don't remember all that well anymore. Not an excuse, mind you, just a sad fact that I keep trying to avoid. I barely remember yesterday much less last week, or last month, or last year.

Forgiveness - what a complexed emotion. Can we ever really give it and let go like Christ? Can someone we tell we are sorry to, really ever trust that we really feel it in our heart and mean it? If I actually make those calls, and that person has read this, will they really believe this is something I feel (which I won't make the call if I don't feel it) and not just an assignment that I was trying to fulfill?

I don't know what I am going to do other then pray a lot. I know God has a plan, I just hope I will shut up and listen to Him.

Beautiful Day to Ride

Today was such a beautiful day and we just couldn't let this day go without riding. We added a twist though, we actually went caching too. Hadn't been caching in over a year and a half. We use to cache all the time but when we started bike, for some reason we stopped caching. I had to do some maintenance on a friends cache this week and it resparked the bug. We hunted for four but only found two. One thing I noticed though is that there aren't enough caches along the river trail. I don't want to put any more out but I might have too.

The ride was great but the wind was brutal. We parked at the submarine and headed west to the Big Dam Bridge then crossed over to the Little Rock side and headed back east to the River Market. We paused at the playground to let the girls run around. We met a nice family of 7 who inquired about riding the trail. Maybe we inspired another family to ride together. Then we headed back across the river via the new junction pedestrian bridge.

A Running Family

Last fall, when Erin went back to running club, things changed. One, instead of right after school on Tuesdays, it was moved to Sunday afternoons at 3:00 pm and it was opened to all the Cabot schools instead of just ours. Since it was Sunday now, Marty and I could actually participate with her. We didn't want to leave Emily out, so Sunday afternoons at 3 became the family run time.

Marty and I really need some physical exercise since both of our work has become office jobs. We joking said that if we continued all the way through we should do the 5K of the Little Rock Marathon since Erin would be doing her final mile at the Little Rockers Marathon then too. We were joking right? At least I was. Marty, I found, not so much.

Well, the ups and downs of Arkansas weather, we did complete the requirements for Erin and Emily to do the Little Rockers Marathon. But we also got the bright idea of the whole family doing the 5K together. Emily was the keenest on this but she agreed, since her friend Kristen was going to do the 5K, and I signed everyone up.

Well Saturday the 6th of March was "THE" day. So, Marty and me and Erin get up and we meet Emily and Kristen down there (Emily spent the evening with Kristen - hope they got sleep). We were blessed with a cool but not cold morning with a beautiful sunrise. We were there earlier then needed but that's ok. We're newbies. The starting line was on President Clinton Boulevard (or Markham street if you lived here prior to Clinton being president) and headed east to the Clinton Library before turning South for a block and then back West. We started farther back in the pack so the seasoned runners could take off on their way. Emily and Kristen were a head of us and Marty, Erin and I would We headed west from the library up 3rd Street to Broadway. Then it was North on Broadway one block to 2nd Street. Then East for 4 block to Izard. 4 more blocks south to 6th street. 1 block west again to Chester. Pass the first water station and mile 2 as we head North to LaHarpe. We turned East on LaHarpe and headed to the finish line back at the River Market.

This was so much fun. We ran the whole thing almost completely together. Erin finished first (she beat her dad only by crossing first). Then Marty. I was 4 minutes behind them and then Emily and Kristen crossed about 4 minutes behind me. It felt so good. Did I really say that? We are already talking about doing another 5K in May.

Love Dare

Our church decided this year, for February, that we would do the Love Dare. Sunday the 17th was the official first meeting and last week was the first week of dares. Marty and I had watched the movie about a year ago, so we had a good idea of what this was all about.

We each selected a different day last week to start without telling each other which one and then we began. Kinda of funny for us to not tell each other because it didn't take long to know who was on what day when day 3 requires you to purchase something for your spouse. LOL. I don't think either of us are having too many issues with the actual dares thus far. Most of these we have been doing already or were doing but have let lag some due to day to day hassles of life.

I'm on day 10 and am looking forward to each day. The first 9 days have basically been a reminder to court each other like when we were dating. So that is kind of fun.

I so love my husband and being married has been a blessing. I thank God for the love and companionship that He has blessed me with in Marty.

I am praying for all others that are doing this study with us and that they find the peace and love that Marty and I are reviving in our marriage.

Labor Day Get Away

The family hadn't taken a weekend to ourselves since Spring Break and since Labor Day was my first weekend since I quit being the Children's Ministries Director for our church, we decided for a family camping trip. We had been going to Mount Nebo a lot and though we love it there, I wanted to go somewhere different. Marty did search on the state parks site and because we are really getting back into biking and our bikes are mountain bikes he found that Cane Creek State Park has put in a new mountain bike trail. I know. There are mountains in the delta of Arkansas. I work there and that was my first thought. Well there are hills, just so you know.

Marty booked it and so Friday after work, we packed the suburban full and headed south. We didn't get out of Cabot until 7:00 so we didn't pull into our camping spot until 9:00. Even though there are hills at Cane Creek there are also the delta mosquitoes. They were in abundance. We got the tent up, the canopy up and to bed we went. More out of preservation then we were tired. Though we were tired of being mosquito food.

We got up the next morning and cooked breakfast and then explored the camping area. The camping area is very nice and laid out very well. We always look at which sites we would prefer for the next time we come and we were very happy with the one we had. It was a great layout if your tent campers like us. Most of the sites are really set up for RVs.

The park had several activities planned throughout the weekend and one was painting with nature. So, of course girls had to do that, since I had a touch of a headache, Marty took the girls while I took a nap. There Marty meet the Park Ranger, Mike, and the girls meet the park interpreter, Courtney. Mike and Marty had a great talk about the mountain bike trail and boy scouts, while Emily and Erin painted fabulous pictures of nature with nature (feathers, rocks, leaves, etc.) They came back to camp and we ate lunch, then decided that we would attempt the mountain bike trail. It is 15.5 miles long with the first 8 miles through the woods (nicknamed "the Roller coaster" by bikers), then .5 mile along a mowed path through tall grass and then 4.5 along a mowed levee (no shade and no rest areas), then 1 mile on paved road and finally .5 miles back through the woods. There are 3 suspended bridges and roughly 30 wooden bridges along the 8 mile roller coaster. We were hoping to do the 4.5 miles to get to the first suspended bridge. We got to about 1.5 almost 2 miles when Emily took her first ever fall off a bike. She was in front of Marty who was in front of Erin who was in front of me, so I didn't see it but he says it was quite impressive. She hit a tree root, bounce her front tire and it landed just off the path to the right and down she went. She took the bars to her lower chest, skidded across her palms and cut and bruised her left thigh. All in all though not real bad. Just a trickle of blood on her left palm. However she was ready to go home. Not back to the tent, I mean home. The only problem was she was wanting a helicopter to pick her up and take her there because she was not going to ride her bike back out of there. Well, the old belief of get back up on the horse was the one her dad and I were raised with so we weren't having none of that. We cleaned her up and wiped away the tears and off we went. Dad first, Erin second and Emily and me way in the back. We took it slow and walked down most inclines, for awhile.

It took some encouragement but we finally got her going down inclines again. Most were straight and none had any drops on either side. We finally made it to the first suspension bridge and were excited. We told the girls there were 2 more bridges like that and asked if they wanted to continue or go back. Well, Emily didn't want anything to do with going where she had just come from and Erin was getting into this down fast and back up the other side with her dad so on we went. We did the next 2.5 miles with great fun and glees of excitement from Dad and Erin. Emily started loosening up and then.......

Erin did a quick down across a bridge and then splat!!! In this picture you can see the disenchantment of her face as she is put back together after her fall. Dad was a head of her and Emily and I were coming over the ridge behind her, so none of us know how she fell but she laid it over on her and she has a huge bruise to her right knee and skint up her left elbow. We took a break and Dad thought it would be cute to get a photo. As you see, Erin was not thrilled.

Well like with Emily, we cleaned up Erin and got a snack (she ate all my Swedish fish!!!) and wiped away the tears and then started back out on the trail. We had decided we were going to at least do the 8 miles out.

This is the third of the 3 suspended bridges. This is located at around 7.75 miles. We are almost out of the woods now. We asked the girls if they wanted to continue or go back and at this point neither of them wanted to go back so we pressed on. It was okay at first but the levee was 4.5 miles of flat, low cut grass with no shade. It was not easy and it was not fun. It quickly became more then we had bargained for, but we had now passed the point of no return. Go on ward we went. We stopped, we walked, some of us cried and some of us made deals for Purple Cow. We were all doing the happy dance when we finally got off the levee. However, we still had 1.5 miles to go to get back to camp. Though this part was actual paved road. We could do this because we do it all the time. Marty had actually planned to ride it and let us sit while he went to get the sub but the girls were headed home. So the girls and us did all 15.5 miles of this trail. We started at 12:50 pm and ended at 5:30 pm. We are blessed with two beautiful and extremely great sports for daughters. Course a visit to the Purple Cow is to follow.

We made it back to camp but the idea of cooking was out of the question, so after MUCH needed showers by all, we headed into Star City for a quick stop at Fred's for bug ointment, paper towels, citronella candle, and children's Motrin before heading to the local Mexican restaurant, Los Toritos. We had a very good dinner but desert was from Sonic. No Purple Cow in Star City, so that will have to wait but had to have a milkshake. Fried ice cream wasn't going to cut it this time.

When we got back to camp it was off to bed, because these people were tired. Marty said that 3 laps of the river trail didn't wear him out as one lap of this trail. All I know is my knees are killing me.

The next day was Sunday and we had made plans to go to church in Star City but we were so exhausted from the day before we overslept. Which was good, because we needed the sleep but we really had intended to go. Instead we spend some quality time together after breakfast with Marty reading and the girls and I making bead people. We had also missed the morning kayak tour that the park interpreter was conducting around the lake. Emily was very disappointed because she really wanted to kayak the lake. After lunch we rented two tandem kayaks and out on the lake we went. Erin had never been in a kayak and was very uncertain of this plus she was convinced that the lake was full of alligators that would turn us over and eat her. Marty had Emily with him and I coerced Erin in with me and off we went. There is a 1.5 mile loop around the lake and we weren't sure how long it would take or if we could even paddle that much but out we went. Erin complained the first half of the trip. She didn't like the moss and the lily pads scared her. After showing her several open lilies and getting out of them into the cypress trees forest, she started to relax and enjoy it. We got through that forest and had to go back through more lily pads before coming to the dead forest (hard woods prior to the levee holding water on them). She really enjoyed the dead forest and looking at the markers that directed us through. Just as we got through the dead forest she figured out how to paddle and was really having a blast. Then we were at the beach, but we checked the time and still had an hour left so we decided to go again and do it backwards this time. It was so much fun.

Proverbs 27:9

"Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul." (The Message - Proverbs 27:9)

How true is that - A sweet friendship refreshes the soul. ? Think about your friends. Think about how out of the blue you will receive an inspirational email from a friend that hits at the right time. Think about that friend that calls and you smile when you see their name on the caller id,you know you need to talk and she is there. Think about that friend that remembers your birthday and how you don't or do like to celebrate it and wouldn't dare celebrate it with you any other way.

I use to think these friendships were some fantasy that only happened in TV. I didn't seem to have these friendships when I was in grade school and I kind a had them in college but now I'm blessed with so many of these sweet friendships. My cup overflows with sweet, sweet friendships.

Just today, I received an inspirational email from one who has just been an aquanitance on facebook who I met through work. We don't see each other everyday but through watching me on facebook she knew that the "3 Things" video would mean something to me and that it would bring a smile to my face. She was right but more then that it refreshed my soul. It brought God into my morning because I hadn't made the time for Him this morning and I needed that little bit to remember Him so that my day would go better.

Sweet friendships.
Stop and think about your sweet friendships.
Stop and think how you can impact one of your friends by BEING that sweet friend.

Thank You God for the blessings of all my Sweet Friendships.

Back to School

Yesterday was the first day of school and it went amazingly well. Emily is excited to be with her best friend on Team Dynamite and Erin is excited to be with her best friend for the first time since they started school together 5 years ago. We shall see how this goes. Though there shouldn't be an issue for Emily because Mei does not have the same advisery teacher as Emily and thus they are only on the same team and have the same lunch. They don't share actual classes together.

School is so much different then I was in 6th grade.

I've been really pround of my girls this summer. They have shown how responsible they are by helping with the house work. I am really missing them not being where I can text them all day. I must wait until school is over and then I'm picking them up so that doesn't accomplish any thing.

I am praying for a good school year. I want it to be challenging for them but I don't want it where they are struggle through anything. A nice balance would be nice.

I love watching them learn new things and am amazed at how much they already know.

I'm looking forward to Scouts and Bible study starting back. Scouts actually started Monday but we were missing several due to open houses at school but we have so many fun activities planned that this is going to be a great year. I am blessed with some awesome co-leader and parents. The girls are great to work with too.

Bible study starts the 2nd of September. I don't have as many as last year and I'm rather bummed about that but it will be okay. This is a great study and I know God will put those there that He thinks needs to be there.

Well lunch is almost over so go to go.

How are you doing today?

As a society, we ask this question every day. Some times we really mean it and really want the person to share how they are feeling. But the truth is, most of the time we are just being polite and we really don't want a 30 minute conversation of why this person we know but not really is getting a divorce or has health issues or whatever.



What about when we are the receipiant of the question? Don't most of us just say, "I'm good" or "I'm fine"? Do we do this because we know they are just being polite? Do we do this because we just don't want to share? Or do we do this because that is what is expected of us?



Well, of late, I have been doing just that. If you have asked me in the last 4 months if I'm okay, you have heard me say "I'm fine." The truth is, I'm not. I have been rather stressed and not the nicest person to be around. I have wonderful friends that will listen to me and truly care for me yet they don't know I've been hurting. Oh, they suspect something but their not asking or if they are asking their not catching me at the right time where the dam would break and they would get more then they bargained for.

Why do we keep the truth to ourselves? Why when we have great friends do we choose to hide it? Is it because we don't want to bother our friends? Is it because we don't think they will understand? Is it because we don't believe they will listen? Is it because we don't think they will actually accept us with all of our flaws? Maybe they won't but so what? If they don't there is still one who will. Jesus loves me and he knows all of my flaws. He is all that matters. So why then to I keep so much of the true me hidden?

Biking Family

Marty and I have been biking all of our lives. We both learned when we were 7 or 8 and in elementary school rode pretty much everyday. Back then it wasn't for exercise or our health, it was because that was what kids did. You rode to school, rain or shine. You rode to your friends house. You rode to the local grocery store to pick up bread or milk for your mom. You rode to get away from your siblings. And most of all you rode to just ride.

Somewhere between the late 70's/early 80's to the present, riding has disappeared from most kids lives. There are a lot of boys still riding but not young girls. When you go to an elementary school, check out the bike rack. Or do they even have a bike rack? Ours does but there maybe 4 or 5 bikes in there each day. Most of the kids are driven by their mom or they ride a bus. They ride a bus in a subdivision that the school is in that there is only one way out of and the school is at the entrance. They ride a bus from the farthest point of this subdivision which is maybe 1/4 of a mile. What has happened that our kids don't ride bikes to school?

Mine do not simply because we don't live in a subdivision but instead we live on one of the busyiest two lane narrow shoulder highways in Arkansas and are three miles from the school with no back rodes that would be safe to ride because of all the speeding drivers.

But I degress. Because my husband and I grew up with bikes as feet, when our daughters got to the point they could peddle, they were given there first bikes. It was slow going getting them from bikes with training wheels to straight up two wheels but three years ago we were successful. We have spent the last three now getting them to learn to pick up their pace and go longer distance. Now we're not talking miles upon miles, we're just talking 1 or 2 along the River Trail in NLR. Well, this year their heights (because my girls are not going to be short women) we had to upgrade their bikes. We had upgrade Dad's from the Wal-Mart special to a GT two August ago and he had been telling me how much easier and faster it was but bikes are now expensive and I just knew he was full of crap. Well two Saturday's ago, after the girls had biked the 14 miles from the NLR submarine up to the NLR side of the Big Dam Bridge and back and my baby is complaining of how much her back hurts and I've watched my eleven year who is only 8" shorter then me with her knees almost up to her chin, my mind was made up. We were not going biking again until those girls had bikes that fit their frame. Both were on 20" tires on 9 to 10" frames. What in the world was I thinking. Well, we started looking at the lower end markets (Wal-Mart, Academy Sports and the like) but my husband was not satisfied with anything. We made our way to Arkansas Cycling and Fitness and both girls with in minutes had picked Trek's that they were in love with. The guy (and forgive me because I'm terrible with names) that helped us was a true doll. He helped us size the girls and made recommendations for them. The girls got exactly the bike they wanted but in their size. One is now on a 26" tire and 15" frame and the other is on a 26" tire and 13" frame.

Well, we had to take those for a spin, so we loaded them in the truck and headed out to the trail right then. The girls took off like rockets. Now Mom is still on a Roadmaster from Wal-Mart and Marty and the girls are sporting aluminum frames and gears that shift with a press of the thumb. I had to work hard to keep up. It was a labor of love but it was labor. The girls were all smiles and no complaints about my back is hurting.

Lucky for me, I'm the special girl in my husbands life, because he couldn't stand it that I had to work so hard to keep up. Saturday, he purchased me a Specialized bike from the same guy at Arkansas Cycling and Fitness. I'm not a high tech bike sort of girl. All I really care about is will it shift gears with ease, will it travel down the trail and what color it is. I've been looking at the bike and the adult women are just not appealing to me. Well my fabulous husband did great. This one has all the tech stuff he wants me to have and I got a color that I can stand (metalic baby blue) and gears that shift without throwing a chain or having to wait on them to change.

I had to pick the bike up yesterday because it wasn't even on the showroom floor. The awesome guy had to put it together for me. That's a first for me. Well the girls and I meet Marty at the Submarine after work and we hit the trail. Man, what a difference. Other then my butt hurting because of a different saddle, that was awesome. We cruised down to the bridge and back and it was just fabulous. I even passed Marty and Em going up one of the hills because they were going to slow. That is a huge improvement.

Wow. Thanks Arkansas Cycling and Fitness for helping get us on the trail even more. I can't wait until 5:00 pm tonight.