Wednesday, August 26, 2009

How Much Soap Do You Have In Your Storage Area?

How many of us have extra put up just in case? I personally have extra laundry soap, in case I run out and need a particular outfit so I look nice the next day for say. . . CHURCH. I also have about 4 tubes of unopened toothpaste, probably 10 bars of soap (no one in this house uses the same soap as anyone else-or shampoo for that matter), extra cleaning supplies, toothbrushes and of course COFFEEEEEEEEE! What do you need? I have probably have it for fear of running out.

We recently took in a beautiful 15 year old girl to our home. She has lived with me off and on her entire life and we started talking to her mom about letting us have her again about 6 months ago. Things in her life had been deteriorating for some time but her mom wasn't able to let her go again, she needed her to take care of her toddler brother because her mom couldn't.

At this time, the two brothers are deposited in other homes. One has been in his current home for a few years and sees his mom sporadically. He hasn't seen her in a few months at the time I'm writing this. The 3 year old is living with his father and she had been dragging this poor girl around living in their car and staying with this person and that person in less than safe environments.

The girls father is currently out of prison but is well on his way back for drugs. She has spent some time with him recently and been abused by him and went with him to "hustle". My fear is that he will have her turning tricks for drug money like he did her mother. He has been in prison most of her life.

This sweet child came to us with nothing more than the clothes on her back. She only had a grocery bag of clothes with her mother but we haven't seen those. She has gone without for so long that it didn't occur to her to ask for a hairbrush, a toothbrush, deodorant or soap. After being taken in and told that her mom was going to let her live with us, she still couldn't ask for things that are basic needs for everyone else. She even asked for permission to take a shower. It really just breaks my heart.

When I was registering her for school today, I was listening to her talk to the guidance councilor about how the last couple of years have been for her in school. I realized how much she was affected by being born addicted to crack. She struggles so hard with learning in school. She has such high hopes for her career-a marine biologist- yet, she struggles with math and science. This morning, we got her a referral for testing to see if there was anything we could do to help her learn so she could live her dream.

Sunday morning, our pastor hugged her and told her he loved her and she just started crying. She needs love so much.

I am totally awestruck for lack of a better word. The teenagers that I'm in contact with are more concerned about cell phones and ipods than soap and deodorant. Current fashions are all the rage with the girls I know.

She has been blessed with clothes. She has more clothes than our own kids now. We had all the basic things in the linen closet that she might need like soap, deodorant, razors etc. I have 6 people in our home so I shop in bulk most often. :) She is signed up for school and taking classes that she needs with the expectation of help when she needs it-a new concept for her.

Her life changed dramatically in one week because my husband stepped out and stepped up. This has made me think about all the extras we have, even though we are struggling financially and the people who don't have "the basics". My children will think twice when they think they "need" their cell phone. Needs take on a different perspective now.

I pray that God will show me a need as it arises and help her to share her needs with us so we can help her. I pray that God will give me wisdom in dealing with her and put people in her path that help her grow and be the person God created her to be. I pray that my children will see what a blessing they are to her and be blessed by her as well. I pray for strength and guidance in protecting her from things of her past and her families generational issues. I pray that God touch her and heal her and let her feel the love we have for her and all the love she so desperately needs and deserves.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

An Update

My uncle who has cancer accepted Christ this week! Praise the Lord!

The rest of the family is claimed and waiting!

I just keep crying, I'm so happy!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

More Randomness

Have you ever wanted to just jerk a knot in someones tail? Snatch 'em bald? Fire 'em up? Light 'em up? It has just been that kind of day. I NEED TO GET ALONE WITH GOD!! SOON!!!


The Bible is very clear on a lot things. Where issues are crystal clear, wrong is wrong. Where it isn't crystal clear due to silly things like"that wasn't around in Bible times", don't twist other verses to fit your needs. It doesn't work, wrong is still wrong.

If you live your life in a way that says, "I'm looking forward to the party in hell!!! WHOOO HOOOO!" Then don't expect to not have consequences.

Don't expect a preacher to preach a funeral for someone that never stepped foot in a church or even entertained the idea of doing so and know stories about the person's life. If the person didn't go to the church, know the preacher then, there is no way for the preacher to have any stories. You can tell the preacher stories to tell, but he still may not get all the details right. That is life.

Yes, a good pastor IS going to tell you when your wrong. It's his job, especially if you are a member of his church. If he doesn't take a stand against sin and only tickles your ear with what you want to hear he is accountable to God. Sorry, I'm not going to let you continue in sin that way either if I know it's wrong. I will tell you in love, I do sometimes lack tact. That's life too. I love you but your gonna have to get over yourself.


Whooo, I feel so much better!

God is still dealing with me about my testimony. I'm still working on it, kind of. I need to rewrite it all so that it is what He wants. Then it will appear here. I hope I don't scare anyone.

God has also put something in my heart (again) that He wants me to do. I feel like when Jesus told his mom, "my time has not yet come". I asked that God make the path clear and tell me when to step out and I will. I'll do it afraid or otherwise. (I'm usually too stupid to be scared until everything is over-lol) I think my next step is to write it all out and make it clear. Please pray for me if you think about it.

Be blessed!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Camping!!!

Ok, they are mostly from the pool but it was great fun for them! I had on spf 50 sunscreen and spent less than 45 minutes in the sun and still got sunburned! I hate that about me because I don't tan afterwards, I just go back to glow in the dark white!



Daddy dunking the girls on the floatie! lol

Daddy teaching the Tazinator to swim because he has no fear and kept doing cannon balls!


Throw that boy like a rag doll honey! He loves it that way!



We fed the ducks and invited the campers next to us to feed them with us. They loved it!



We had fun, I was still in an air cast for my ankle and I found that I had more gray hair than I thought! :( Thanks Girls for pointing that out!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Amazed and Saddened

Family is hard.
My family is really hard.

My cousin called me today. She is caring for her father who will be passing away soon from cancer. I've been there. Taking care of my mom while she passed from this world while taking care of a new born baby (and 4 other children) and my husband who had a heart attack the day we brought my mom to our home to be cared for and he had open heart surgery two days later. As horrible as my experience seemed, hers' is much worse.

As I listened to her vent today, I realized, perhaps for the first time, the amount of pain in her heart. It just broke my heart. The pain isn't just from the current situation she is in, caring for her dying father while homeless with 2 children because of her alcoholic mothers actions. Her mother is doing things to her that are beyond comprehension for me or anyone who ever knew her. And I found myself wondering, "what happened to her (my cousin)?" She is in so much pain but it only comes out as venom and rage.

I know the basic road she has traveled, the obstacles she overcame beyond all odds-really amazing. She doesn't see that. She doesn't see that she is strong because she doesn't feel it. How often have I felt that way. Weak, useless, hopeless, helpless. The difference between us is that I know who I am, where my hope is, that my weakness makes my God shine brighter.

During the toughest trials I have survived, I knew that my God was with me. I knew that my Father had everything under control and I was safe even if I didn't feel like it. She doesn't have that, neither does her father or mother. Both of her parents steeped in addictions, something their daughter escaped from (after giving birth to 2 kids who were born addicted to cocaine) but not their 2 sons.

My cousin "knows" God loves her but doesn't see that only His power can help her. He came to heal the broken hearted. Her broken heart, but she won't hear of it.

I'm just so saddened by the entire situation and driven to my knees in tears for all of them.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

I found this today

I found this story and thought I would share it. You can read it here-http://intouchwith-pumpkinrolls.blogspot.com/2009/05/sleep-when-wind-blows.html

For people like me who just want to read it and not go through a link, I also copied and pasted here.


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Sleep When the Wind Blows

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people werereluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded theawful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he receivedA steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approachedthe farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him."Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him onthe spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks hadbeen covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred.The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what hishired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep whilethe wind blew.When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically,you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because hehad secured the farm against the storm.We secure ourselves against the storms of life bygrounding ourselves in the Word of God.We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

Monday, August 3, 2009

A Little About Me

I was encouraged by a fellow blogger to tell a little about me. You can read her entry here-http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-is-who-i-am.html . Scary stuff really, how much do other people really want to know? How much do I really want to share? Hummm....

Family Stuff:
I'm a wife and mother. We are a blended family put to gether by God. I have a grown son who is a Marine and just returned from Iraq a few months ago. My sweet husband is a truck driver. We struggle with stuff daily, all of us. I have 2 teenage daughters and 2 younger boys at home. One teenage daugter in Florida and one son now in California on base. I didn't give birth to all of them but they are mine just the same. My step children have been with me more of their lives than they were with their mother, except for the one who lives in Florida. She decided that she preferred to live with her mother because she was treated like an adult and was allowed to do things there that we wouldn't allow. It took a long time and some erroneous counseling for us to let her go back to her mother. We have seriously regretted that decision. That story is about 8 posts alone.

There is a lot to be said about unequal yoking. I've lived it and in some ways still do. I have had to be the spiritual head of the home for some time now as my husband abdicated his position early on. Since we have been going to this new church, my husband has had a fire in him that I have never seen! Praise the LORD! He is now taking his rightful position and I couldn't be more pleased! I am still stronger spiritually but my husband is growing by leaps and bounds and I don't think that will be the case much longer. I couldn't be more happy about that either. We seem to be getting stronger in different areas though. I really hated taking that position and I spent years trying to get him to take it. yeah, another 8 posts there too.

I'm a Bible believing, praying, worshiping woman. I'm a Full Gospel, Pentecostal kind of gal. I believe in the gifts of the spirit, laying on of hands, annointed oil and speaking in tounges. I do all of that and then some. I also believe that what we see happening isn't always what's going on. There are things going on in the spiritual realm that affect the natural. (powers and principalities and all that warring with the one true God) I also believe in spiritual warfare because I have seen it, lived it and watched God move in it.

Ten years ago I was a straight up heathen. You really didn't want to mess with me then. I was not a good person in a lot of ways. I was quite damaged from my past, bound in sin, full of anger, and saw no way out or any reason to change. yeah, that transformation is another 8 posts. Praised God! He picked me up and cleaned me.

I will tell you what I think whether you want to hear it or not so don't ask unless you're able to handle the truth. I try to be tactful but it really isn't my nature. God's working on that. I have a "fighting spirit" for lack of a better way to put it. I had to fight most of my life just to live and it's sort of ingrained. Perfect for intercessory prayer though.

I mess up, often. Get frustrated with myself, pray about it and move on. I am learning to lean on God more and to stop making decisions and then ask God for His blessing on it. I forgive easily and forget transgression against me very quickly. That frustrates my husband. I think he forgets that some of those wrongs that are done to me include him. LOL I don't get caught up in the little things that make people mad. I can over look quite a bit. If I do get angry or frustrated, I stop and ask myself how big it is in the grand scheme of things and is it me. And sometimes it is me!

I love to cook and most of the things I cook are from scratch. I've tried to pass that down to my daughters. One just doesn't have the focus to complete any meal that takes time. Bless her heart. I also sew, crochet, do all kinds of other crafts. Usually only in the winter since the late spring, summer and early fall are spent in the garden and canning etc.

I love to write here and be social but it isn't the main focus of my life. So many other things come first that there are times when it takes me a while to get back to writing. I often think of things but by the time I have time to write, I've forgotten the idea. LOL

I love comments and want to respond to them all. (Not that many people read my ramblings so it's not that hard of a thing to do :) ) I can't do that without an email address and sometimes it's just not appropriate to post a response to a post on their blog. So, if you have left a comment. I love it and thank you and I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to you. One of my bloggy friends does some sort of link back but I'm too blog illiterate to do that or to add buttons to my blog! lol I would love to learn to do that! :)

Be Blessed