All Y'all

Essentially everybody, right? All y'all? That is about how many women went down to the altar at the front of this church this weekend to try and put their hurts at the cross and accept their new kind of normal...Here, let me back up...I went this Friday and Saturday to an Extraordinary Women's conference at a big church in Sterling Heights (2800 women). It was good, a little too pushy in the merchandising arena but I figured as much. The speakers were great. They made me laugh and cry. One speaker in particular, Carol Kent, was asking people who were dealing with a hurt to come forward and leave their hurt at the cross and their were people there to pray with them and over them to help them do this. I was floored when I saw all these women heading to the front! Where all these women really dealing with a hurt like that? Obviously so because it was so moving a moment I thought I was really going to loose it! It was a good thing it was lunch time and we were able to leave the church. But it has still kept me thinking...Do we as women, emotional women, hang on to grudges or hurts because it is easier than letting go? I mean wouldn't we rather have something like pain to comfort us instead of forgiving and people thinking we are a "weaker" woman than someone who might "stand up for themselves"? I am not sure I have the answer for the question because I can only look at the things that I have held onto and sit back and wonder why...is it through this journey of finding out who we are through Christ that we begin to recognize that you have to have hurt in order to know the depths of love? You have to know how low is low, until you see how high is high? It reminds me of the saying that if you truly love someone or something let it go and if it comes back to you then you know it was truly yours?!?!? But wouldn't that hurt like hell????? Of course it would...it does...but you can only experience the love again if you truly let go of the hurt you had to go through to get it back, right? Kinda of reminds me of what God did for us, by giving us His Son to DIE for us...as a father or a mother, could you??? But what started as love, went through a hurt only to be the greatest love of all!!!! Sorry, just rambling and wanted to know what all y'all thought about it! (Thank you Heather for the question at the end blog...love it!)

So Simple

Ok, so today was the day...I dropped it in the mail and paid a whole dollar to send it. It was so simple... I was afraid that my slow feet in getting it done, and all the doubts that seemed to have swamped me in the last few weeks were a sign that maybe I wasn't even supposed to try. The Post office thing yesterday almost through me for a loop, but then I remembered that sometimes doing what God wants you to do is really hard. Going to the post office was easy, but making a conscious decision to follow through with what God had placed on my heart was hard. It is against what I thought he would want me to do, it is against wordly things. I am not doing it for an income...and isn't that why you go to graduate school? I can't even say why I am doing it except that I felt a nudge from God to do it. I have no idea what the end result is going to be and what I am ever going to do with the knowledge I will gain, but God knows and that is the simple part. I will just follow where he leads, no matter what the terrain and trust in HIM.
Simple.

Today is the Day!

So, today was to be the day! It was, I could feel it when I woke up this morning and knew I had everything in place for it to be the day. What day you ask? Well, the day I mail in my application to MTS. I don't know why it has been such a big deal, it is just something to be put in the mail. I had all my transcripts sent there, I have my references out so they can be filled out and mailed in, I wrote my 1000 word testimony, answered all the questions and I even printed out the picture they wanted on file...I guess they just don't let anybody in to seminary. Anyway, I looked at the pages one last time, said my prayer and couldn't get the dang envelope to stay closed! I thought that would be ok and the post office would have some tape so on I drove with the envelope sitting proudly on my passenger seat. I pulled up into the Post office and knew God was smiling at me because there was no cars in the parking lot. I knew that meant there was no line in the post office and I could be on my way quickly... OR it could mean that I am an idiot who didn't realize the post office was closed because of Veteran's Day. Maybe tomorrow can be the day...

I was just sitting here thinking about the weekend and thought how lucky I am to have such cool friends! I am really enjoying our times together and getting to know each of them. I can only hope they still like me after they really get to know me! Okay, weekend is over...Kevin has a busy week and not sure how much time I am going to get to see him so I am going to get my kids in bed and show him "God's Girl"!

Halloween 2008

What a group we have here! We have Kelsey the Dr., Noah a very serious looking army dude, Kyle was looking very much like a hippie, and Jordan who decided to be a princess at the last minute, Seth who is a crazy dragon and Connor who is Mutt. Brandon was at Michael's and dressed as an old man and Lily had her politically incorrect Indian costume on for a whole 5 seconds and then took it off. She went trick or treating as herself...what a treat that was!!! We are definitely going to a hotel next year! Everybody can play dress up!