my bucket list

So i've been thinking a lot about things I want to do, see and places I want to go... Kind of my "bucket list" so to speak. And I figured better than just talking about would be to write(type) it out and do it! So - here is my list of things I've always wanted/wanted to do, and in no particular order(italicized means I've done it!!):


1. Paris & the Eiffel Tower
2. Las Vegas
3. New York, New York
4. Disney World
5. Universal Studios
6. The Keys
7. Bahamas
8. Jamaica
9. Italy
10. Greece
11. Honduras
12. San Francisco
13. Los Angeles
14. Washington, DC
15. Seattle, Washington
16. Savannah, GA
17. Tybee Island
18. New Orleans
19. Miami, FL
20. Cabo
21. Cancun
22. Alaska
23. Skydive
24. Parasail
25. Parachute
26. Disneyland
27. Hollywood
28. Take a cruise
29. Go on a cross country road trip
30. Get a tattoo with my husband's & my kids' names/initials
31. Get my nose pierced
32. Tattoo on my foot
33. Take a couples dance class with my hubby
34. go Skiing in Colorado
35. ice skate on a frozen lake in a northern state
36. jump off a waterfall
37. visit Hawaii with my husband & daughters
38. learn how to drive a stick shift
39. go to Hilton Head Island w/my family
40. hop a plane for an impromptu/spontaneous day and/or weekend trip
41. fly in a private plane somewhere for a day
42. rock climb (and not on a rock wall... REAL rock climbing)
43. I want to go hunting
44. deep sea fishing with my girls
45. a girls only beach trip with my sisters, sister in law and daughters
46. drive up the california coast
47. venice
48. prague
49. the grand canyon
50. the cayman islands
51. thailand
52. africa
53. drive a corvette, a ferrari, a delorean
54. horseback riding down the beach
55. watch a westcoast sunset
56. drive on the autobon
57. a "surprise date"
58. a night at the Fox
59. to see something on broadway
60. dinner and dancing all gussied up

there's more, i'm sure, scratch that, I KNOW! And I'll add them as I think of them :)
What are some of your recommendations? or somethings on your "bucket list"?

words.

Psalm 57:4
My soul is among lions; I lie among them that are set on fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.

Psalm 64:3
Who have whet their tongue like a sword, And have aimed their arrows, even bitter words,

Proverbs 12:18
There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword; But the tongue of the wise is health.

Hosea 7:16
They return, but not to him that is on high; they are like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.


Words are very powerful. Especially when used the wrong way. I don't know what your spiritual beliefs are, but scripture even warns us of the danger of using our words to cut others. And today I did just that. I was hurt and fired back... It's amazing the things that come out of your mouth before you even realize what you are saying. And we always know just what to say to hurt the ones that we love... And we can always hurt the ones we love the most. And I am guilty of that today.

Instead of using my husbands weak points to build him up as I should have, I threw them at him and used them against him. I basically poured salt in an open wound. And I didn't even realize I had done it until after it had happened and I couldn't take my words back.

As his wife I have a responsibility, not to feed his ego but to protect his identity as a man, my husband and the father of my children. As a Christian I am supposed to not try to "get back at someone" for how they hurt me. And I failed.

Our words are so powerful and we have the power to make or break someone by our tongue. And we need to be so very careful what we say to people and how we say it. Once something is said you cant take it back, you can apologize but you can't replace the piece of that person that has been damaged once your words have been spoken.

helping out those in need

Hey everyone.

This holiday season I challenge you to help someone else out. I know, personally, of two families that could use your help this holiday season and beyond this holiday season. A friend and I have created a blog that you can log on to and read a brief summary of these two families, there is also a donate button where you can financially donate to help them out. Please check it out and help someone else out for Christmas and beyond!

Here is the link to the blog to help them out:
http://whenbadthingshappen2goodpeople.blogspot.com/

Thank you all for your generosity and giving spirit this Christmas season! God bless!!!

my. busy. life. & what God thinks about it

So lately I have been feeling like God has been telling me to not be so busy, and I've ignored Him(bad idea to ignore God). I've been working as much as I can, trying to keep the house up and trying to run after 3 kids and volunteering for anything I possibly can to help further the kingdom and I've gotten really frustrated. Business has slowed down, people that I normally help out with haven't asked for much help, my entire family has gotten sick and anything I have tried to do has been interrupted,I'm not exaggerating. My life has/had gotten to the point that I didn't have time to cook, didn't have time to help my daughter with her homework, didn't have time to give my husband the attention that he needs, didn't have time to read the Word. I've felt so rushed and my mind always focused on 4 or more projects at a time that I couldn't focus on whats been going on in my everyday life.

This all hit me pretty hard when our 15month old has had about 4 more teeth come in that I never even noticed. We've been forced to slow down some with kids getting sick, etc, but I've still tried to do what I felt I needed to do, we've gotten so caught up in being busy that that was who we had become - we were busy, I might as well have introduced myself to people that way. And then I read one of my husband's good friend's blog( http://bradpostonline.com/ <--you should check it out) and it hit me in the face again, bringing to mind all the things that have been currently brought to my mind and reminding me that God is NEVER too busy for me and He allowed me to come into existence. Every good and perfect gift is from Him and I haven't been making time for Him, we've even rushed through our bed time ritual with our kids prayer/devotion time, leaving out the devotion but still praying... what are we teaching them? That what we have going on is too important to take a few extra minutes to spend time with them getting them in the Word.

I made the comment to my husband that I felt like we were bad parents, and a lot of times I really feel like that. The main reason for my feelings is because we have been too busy to set the example for them that they need to take time to enjoy things and enjoy God and His Word and His presence in their life. When Mackenzie was Kaeleigh's age she had several scriptures memorized and she was so proud of it and she would talk about God and Jesus and always asked us questions, but Kaeleigh doesn't do that, and really the only thing that has changed has been how busy we are now and how much time we spend talking to them about God, Jesus and the Bible. And especially with Christmas coming up, we need to be taking the time to share with them the true meaning of the season and enjoying the season with them. Time flies by too fast and I want my children to have memories of mom and dad doing things with them and sharing with them and most importantly having time for a meaningful relationship with our Saviour and sharing that with them.

If I have rambled any, I apologize, I'm a rambler and I do it without realizing it. But hopefully something that I have said will be meaningful to someone, even if it's just me and one other person.

Ernest

Ernest is a man my husband and I met after a concert at the Tabernacle in Atlanta on Sunday night. We gave him a few dollars and prayed for him when he stopped us to ask us for help paying for a night at the shelter.

As we were walking out of the concert I looked over and noticed a man in the dumpster and then a lady talking to herself, or maybe she was talking to us but it didn't seem so.

My heart broke.

I can't imagine being so desperate for food or shelter that I had to jump into a dumpster. So many people with so many stories and we just pass them by without a second thought or a second look. Most people would rather ignore their existence than to take a moment to acknowledge that there is a life and that life has a purpose and that life has needs.

God loves Ernest and the others that we saw and didn't see. He loves them just as much as He loves us. "Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!" A child's song, but it's so true! No matter what differences we have from each other, be it skin color, background, jobs, homes sizes, or even our individual stories... He loves us all the same.

And we are commanded to love each other, to love all of God's children... The greatest commandment is to love. And Jesus also says that what we have done to the least of these we have done to Him. That's my challenge to everyone, and not just to the homeless but to all of God's children - Acknowledge that they are a life that is valuable to God, that they are to be loved and that they are precious in HIS sight! How do you think things would change if we all lived according to God's greatest commands? What can you do differently? Who can you be Jesus to?

Just some food for thought...

Marriage

Following this blog you will find the word "marriage" defined by the Bible and by Webster's Dictionary.

Something that has been on my heart a lot lately has been how society today treats marriage. You can't get married and just one day decide it's not "cutting it for ya" anymore and "break up" - Marriage is work and it's HARD work and it is not something that should be taken lightly, not in the least bit. It nauseates me to see how my generation, ones before and ones after, treat marriage. They/we treat it as something that can be fixed as easily as changing clothes and finding a new pair. Marriage is the model for Christ and the church and it should be treated as seriously as such. Too many people today think that the grass is greener on the other side only to find out that what they had was already God's best for them.

The Bible says "for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife and the two shall become one" - How can you divide something that is one? If I have one dollar and I tear it in two, it loses it's value, I can't use one half of it... I have to repair it and make it "one" again... Making it whole. I can tape a dollar back together but you can't tape a marriage together, you have to super glue it together and enter the marriage with a third part, the tie that binds, the superglue that no one can separate, Christ. A cord of three is not easily broken and neither is a marriage that has Christ as the center. Marriage is a sacred covenant made to God and your spouse in front of friends and family and too many people overlook the part about it being a covenant to God.

I have a lot on my heart and my mind about this as you can understand. And maybe as you read through how marriage is defined you will understand more. Marriage is not something to be taken lightly... No commitment to God should be.

Marriage: (definition according to Bible) Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (Genesis 2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Matthew 19:4, 5). It is evident that monogamy was the original law of marriage (Matthew 19:5; 1 Corinthians 6:16). This law was violated in after times, when corrupt usages began to be introduced (Genesis 4:19; 6:2). We meet with the prevalence of polygamy and concubinage in the patriarchal age (Genesis 16:1-4; 22:21-24; 28:8, 9; 29:23-30, etc.). Polygamy was acknowledged in the Mosaic law and made the basis of legislation, and continued to be practised all down through the period of Jewish histroy to the Captivity, after which there is no instance of it on record.

It seems to have been the practice from the beginning for fathers to select wives for their sons (Genesis 24:3; 38:6). Sometimes also proposals were initiated by the father of the maiden (Exodus 2:21). The brothers of the maiden were also sometimes consulted (Genesis 24:51; 34:11), but her own consent was not required. The young man was bound to give a price to the father of the maiden (31:15; 34:12; Exodus 22:16, 17; 1 Samuel 18:23, 25; Ruth 4:10; Hosea 3:2) On these patriarchal customs the Mosaic law made no change.

In the pre-Mosaic times, when the proposals were accepted and the marriage price given, the bridegroom could come at once and take away his bride to his own house (Genesis 24:63-67). But in general the marriage was celebrated by a feast in the house of the bride's parents, to which all friends were invited (29:22, 27); and on the day of the marriage the bride, concealed under a thick veil, was conducted to her future husband's home.

Our Lord corrected many false notions then existing on the subject of marriage (Matthew 22:23-30), and placed it as a divine institution on the highest grounds. The apostles state clearly and enforce the nuptial duties of husband and wife (Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18, 19; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Marriage is said to be "honourable" (Hebrews 13:4), and the prohibition of it is noted as one of the Marks of degenerate times (1 Timothy 4:3).

The marriage relation is used to represent the union between God and his people (Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:1-14; Hosea 2:9, 20). In the New Testament the same figure is employed in representing the love of Christ to his saints (Ephesians 5:25-27). The Church of the redeemed is the "Bride, the Lamb's wife" (Revelation 19:7-9).

Marriage: (definition according to Websters)] noun
1. State of being husband and wife; "a long and happy marriage"; "God bless this union".
2. Two people who are married to each other; "his second marriage was happier than the first"; "a married couple without love".
3. The act of marrying; the nuptial ceremony; "their marriage was conducted in the chapel".
4. A close and intimate union; "the marriage of music and dance"; "a marriage of ideas".

More Creations... (2008 and older)

This is Kaeleigh's first birthday cake & destroy cake :) (Feb 2006)















This is Kenzie's 5th birthday cake (Jan 2007)