Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Go Go Girls

Hello All, 

     I hope all of you have been doing well. The last month has been more than a little stressful with Cliff being laid off about the same time one of my jobs hired an Office Manager to streamline our processes. Change is often good, and I'm sure it will be in the case too, but for me it is rarely if ever fun. It certainly would not of been my choice when I was already stressed out of my mind with some extended family issues, and Cliff out of a job. My shoulders have been tied in knots and yesterday when I went to the Chiropractor he told me that my stress had traveled from my thumb/wrist area that's had me in a splint up to my shoulders and down to my lower back where it was causing me to have pain my bum. Since Cliff being out of job is the major contributor to the stress, I asked him if he would put it in writing that my husband was a "pain in the butt" he declined. Trust those guys to always stick together. 

    Mom and I have been walking every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a local home center store around 7:00 am. This has been such a good thing for us on so many levels. It's a great place to walk, plenty of room and the Employees have been so supportive. They always have a smile for us, ask us how it's going, how far we walk and are just over all encouraging to us. This morning we were getting a drink of water, one of us said something at which point we heard Dennis say from the employee break room, "Oh the Go Go Girls are here" then he comes out to chat for a few minutes. This is the same man I mentioned in a previous post that saw us eating breakfast at McDonalds and said "all that walking and you're eating here?" He also threatens to chase us with the sweeper if he doesn't think we're walking fast enough. He is such a hoot and really does brighten our walking days. Mom and I really enjoy the time to just visit with each other, I'm happy to report I've finally gotten to the point that I have enough air to walk and talk at the same time most mornings. We pass a mirror closet door every morning as we walk across the back of the store, I am finally seeing a difference in the reflection which is very encouraging. To be loosing instead of gaining in the middle of such a stressful time in my life can only be a God thing, normally and left on my own I would of already packed on 10-20 pounds over the last month. Last week a very good friend took me to see Safe Haven. I really enjoyed the movie but I've gotta tell you I really really enjoyed fitting in the seats and being able to sit comfortably through a movie for the first time in years. It will be interesting to see how the seats fit at the Cedar Park Center when we attend a public Easter Service there that our Church is sponsoring. If any of you are in the Cedar Park area, please join us Easter Sunday at 10:30 am, admission and parking is free and childcare is available for children from infants to 4 years of age. 

    Today was a day full of good news. Cliff had a very promising interview on Friday, we know they are interested in him, we're just waiting on them to get back to him. Colton is waiting on the results from a drug test and physical before starting work for Firestone. I also received word that the extended family issue that has been weighing heavily on me for the last several months is finally about to be resolved. Several of the major obstacles that had to be overcome were hurdled today. I expect to get very good news on that front within the next few weeks. All these things along with less behind, and a nicer reflection in the closet door made today a pretty good day. To quote one of our past preachers "God is Good, All the Time"

   Take care and hang in there, God always has something good in the works! We just have to be patient and wait on His timing. 

René






Sunday, February 10, 2013

Busy Busy Busy

I just wanted to drop a line to let you know I'm still alive and kicking. The last few weeks have been very chaotic on the work and personal front. Lots and lots of stress but we know God is in control and we're hanging in there. I remind myself a little more of the old poster of the cat hanging on to the end of a rope by his last claw, that said "Hang in there, Friday's coming" than I'd like but it's still all OK.

In the midst of everything that's going on there have been huge blessings. For many years I've been involved with the JOY Class at our Church, this class is made up of our Senior Adults. They are so well named, they are certainly a JOY to me and my family. Their love is unconditional, they've walked so many of the paths we're on before us, they have been such a wonderful example of what a Christian walk should be, and they are ferocious prayer warriors. 3 of them in particular I've come to think of as the 3 Graces. Belva, Wanda and Alice I love you so much and I'll never be able to express how much your love and support means to me.

My own class at Church is just as wonderful. I've always said I couldn't imaging finding a more loving group of people, or a group you'd want in your corner more than the JOY Class...but as I was saying to my Mom the other day the Legacy Class is as loving as the JOY Class. We are so fortunate to be in the class. The people in there are so great and so caring. We have a wonderful teacher, Jon asks the hard questions and helps us see what God wants us to see and how it relates to our everyday life. We really support each other and watch out for each other. Mom's reply "you know yall are the next JOY Class" I don't know about anybody else but I think she's absolutely correct and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be when I grow up.

I wrote the paragraphs above on Monday and saved it thinking I'd proof it and get it posted a little later. Here it is Sunday and I'm just now getting to it. I wasn't kidding when I titled this post Busy, Busy, Busy.

Looking back I see where as the week started getting crazier and crazier, the less time I spent with God. I started missing my daily devotionals and reading my Bible. No big deal right, it was just a few days. WRONG!!! As a result of my bad choices and not putting first things first, when the week got crazy, I wasn't where I needed to be with God, and I did not have my ears open to hear that still small voice to remind me to plug into God's power source, consequently I spent a frustrating week trying to handle things I was not equipped to handle on my own. This was my own fault, God was there ready to take on my battles, but I didn't have enough sense to ask Him to. I didn't plug into my power source. How silly and what a waste. 

My prayer for myself and for each of you this week is to make better choices put God first where he belongs and remember to stop and ask God for His help in dealing with whatever issues you have going on, all He's waiting on is an invitation. 

I'm hoping this video copies over, it's a powerful song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbe7OruLk8I