Oh the Pressure!!!!

Well I was just informed this morning during our 8 miles that Jasper is putting out a blog the month of November challenge. I do love a good challenge so here we go!

Arkalalah

For all of my life I've been attending Arkalalah in some way. It starts with concessions I believe today (Tues), then they have a super cool light parade on Wednesdays, but since I am a leader in Awanas we have missed it for the past 3 years, and then Thursday has become a girls trip for a few of us (oh so fun), Friday is usually the kiddie parade, and Saturday around 2 is always the big 2 hour parade. It's loads of fun. I haven't been to the big parade in a couple years. I think the last time I went Jake was 4. Here he is in it with my dad.

So you see it's been about 5 years. I am hoping to go this year to the big parade. We go down after work on Thursday and eat, walk around, possibly ride some good ole carnival rides, and eat some more. Cheesecake on a stick comes to mind! :) I can't wait for this Thursday to experience it again and welcome a newbee into the annual trip. Laurie I hope you enjoy it!!! Here's a pic of us last year.

A couple girls can't go this year for prior engagements , hopefully they can join us again next year. We goina have some fun!!!! ;) Check back Friday hopefully I have the new blog posted for this year!!

Twilight saga sadness

So I've been longing for more of my Twilight stories involving Edward and Belle. The books ended fine and all, it's just they could have kept going and had more and more stories, but no she ended it in 4 books. While they were 4 long books and each book kept getting longer by about 100 pages or so, it's still sad that it's done. So right now the few of us that have read it are counting down until the movie comes out November 21st. We will be there no matter what for that first night!!! Probably standing in line like the giddy teenagers we no longer are. :)

Then there's the sad part about Midnight Sun. I do hope she recovers from whoever let her rough draft slip out into the public. There are so many of us, that why patience would have been short, would have gladly waited until it was completed. To hear Edwards side is so very necessary in my opinion. I hope she has better feelings about it and continues the story for our sake...right girls?!!

Maybe we should start making up our own continuation of the story...what would Alice be doing right now? Is Rosalie still a hag? uh yeah. Who is Emmett arm wrestling now? How big is Nessie? I could go on...oh the sadness.

More Beth realizations!!! God is so good!

It's Tuesday so why not blog on the awesome realizations Beth Moore continues to move in me. God is awesome isn't He!!!! Oh He is.

So today we talked of friends and His spirit showing thru us since we weren't meant to blend in. I know many of you know that I have a son who has cystic fibrosis. He was diagnosed with this when he was 3 weeks old. I had so many people coming up to me wondering why I was so calm. I simply stated to them "what good would it do if I wasn't calm?" Nothing. Today Beth was talking about wanting to have the Lord's spirit shining out of us. And immediatly I thought of that moment in the Wendy's parking lot on 240 in OKC, when I found out about Stockton, I was very very calm. I immediatly remember feeling that it will be okay. He is in God's hands. I have to trust that there is a reason and to try to show how we can live to glorify God in this diagnosis. Don't get me wrong, I pray daily for his healing, but if that is not in God's will, I am willing to find out what he wants to do with this. Life isn't easy and it doesn't always revolve around what makes "us" happy. As Beth put it so well a couple weeks ago, "hearts easily buy into Satan's lies. Your heart often lies to you, just as my heart often lies to me. "Follow your heart" is the stuff of fairy tales and the stuff of many a nightmare." I believe that's alot of why some people don't become Christians or have a false understanding of it. God never said life would be full of rainbows and butterflies. People don't want to change or give up there desires.

(All verse's are out of the New Living Translation)

1 Corinthians 10:13 "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure."

James 1:2-4 "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

James 1:13-14 "And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

I am not saying I submit to everything, it's a horrible daily struggle, and I fall often. But I know God is right there telling me to get up! I hope this helps someone in a struggle they may be facing. God is right there fighting for us:

Psalm 139:5 "You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me." As Beth put it so well: "He goes before us, follows behind us, and hems us safely inside the realm of His protection." WOW what an awesome image. He is right there! Ready and willing to fight for us!!!! He loves us so.

The other thing we talked about today was friendship. I've been struggling lately with friends. No one in particular just in general. I have had relationships in my life that have not stuck. I've had friends and family that have hurt me. The trust issue is very difficult for me. Beth talked today about "His willing friendship". No matter where we are in our lives or who happens to be in them at that moment we always have God right there willing to be our friend. In the big stuff and in the "small talk", the stuff that is so minor no one else but a true close friend would care about. We are so into having a physical body right there with you and not thinking of the spiritual one that is right there ALWAYS!!!! I love my friends more than they know. I try to be that person that is there always and I hope that they see that. There are different degrees of friends and we can't be bff's with everyone. But you know it's nice to know when you are feeling left out or forgotten by someone that God will never forget us. As Beth put it "that is why God created us: not because He needed us but because He wanted us. The act was based on the pleasure of His will. God doesn't just love us. He also likes us!!"

Forgiveness

I had an astounding realization today thanks to Beth Moore. It was talking about getting rid of the bitterness in your life and of course you can only do this thru Jesus. She said in order to heal from the bitterness you need to start with forgiving. Then she says: which you think "if I forgive it's saying it was all right and it's not all right." She then says: let God whisper in your ear what He whispered to her: "No, My child; forgiving will make you all right." WOW what a thought. To forgive is for us...not for the person who did the hurting. To be more Christlike means we are to forgive and to forgive everyone for everything. Not to say it was okay no big deal but to say hey I am now okay and you are giving all so that He can put His all in you. If we can't forgive how can He forgive us?

Matthew 6:14-15 "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Scary thought. I can't imagine the place that is there for those who don't have Jesus in their hearts and lives, nor do I want to imagine that place. For if we are wrong in what we believe what have we to lose, but those who don't believe have everything to lose!

Running update/challenge to partner(s)

So I was reading the other day about Jennifer Lopez competing in her first triathlon. I thought to myself...JLo did a triathlon...mmmm, I can do a triathlon, if she can. So I clicked on what her's consisted of and it said 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike ride, and a 4 mile run. Okay now, peice of cake! It took her 2 hrs and around 23 minutes I believe. If we can run a half marathon in 2 1/2 hrs who's saying we can't do that in that time as well. Where we would train for 1/2 mile swim sounds a little iffy but girls I so think this could be done. So I am challenging you two to think about this. Maybe next year or the next, but I would like to see us do this. You with me?



I am sooo excited about how our running is progressing. We've come back quickly from being off for so long. When we started we were averaging around 12 min miles. We are now averaging around 10.30 min miles. As Julie would say "WHAT'S UP!!!" We are feeling awesome with no injuries and we have one more week of our run/walk buildup before we are running the full mileage on our training schedule. We are still hoping the mojo from last year is there again. Keep cheering for us!!!!

Accountability.

I am feeling the need to express a few things I learned today in Bible Study. I know that Beth may not of specifically hit this on the head in the session but I took this from one of the answers someone gave to a question on last weeks homework.



First off did you all know that Adam was suposed to guard the garden? God told him since he couldn't guard it, He would put His angels there to guard it. He said that the serpent never should have gotten to his wife. So wow...the serpent should have never been IN the garden. What a thought!!!



Okay my reason for writing, which may be sad to some, is not a funny subject. I feel the need to get rid of the negativity in my life. I have always been around people who are negative, from growing up, to my daily life. Even though I may not be able to change the people that I am around, I can however, with Jesus's help, not retain the negativity and push it off on others. I can try to be the positive one and maybe that will reflect on them. This is obviously not a guarantee that I will not slip, we are not perfect people, but we are to strive to be Christ like and negativity was not something He ever was. So here's where the accountability comes in. My partners in this, you two know who you are, please if you hear even the beginning of a negative statement coming from my lips, I beg you to bring it to my attention. I don't want to be like the people I know who are negative. I know how that negativity makes me feel, I don't want to make others feel that way. You know what I mean? This challenge is put out there to all who may have this problem. Wouldn't it be nice to squash something else of the devil? I sure think so!