Purpose

The struggle to find a 'purpose' for your life is such a journey. There are so many hours devoted to just thinking about it. So many more hours devoted to praying about it. And sometimes, the conclusion is inconclusive. . . you are still right in that same place where you started, and you still don't really know where you are going.

Twists take you directions that you never thought you'd be going. You thought you'd be 'there', and not 'here'. Point 'A' made more sense, but you ended up strangely at Point C. You scratch your head and wonder 'how did this happen'?

Before you presume I am leading this discussion onto a gameboard of chess . . . let me assure you, I am not at all saying that we are just little pieces being moved to and fro about a wooden board.

Hardly.

We are moved, yes. God's will has a purpose though. A divine one. He's not like the wind either. The wind is too predictable. He is completely unpredictable and yet He still is faithful. I still can't understand how those two fit together, but it makes complete sense whether I understand it or not.

But I am wandering.

The Purpose Driven Life expounds these fumbling thoughts a bit more. It is a little bit more 'go get 'em' for this particular hour, but, it had some good points:

Sovereignty simply means God is in control, and that he has the right to be in control. Regardless of what you believe, the truth remains – God has been and always will be in control. He rules from his heavenly throne, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).

It's essential that you understand God's sovereignty as you move forward faithfully; otherwise, you won't be able to see the hand of God working actively through the details of your life (Romans 8:28). You're likely to become overwhelmed by the immensity ofthe task before you and soon you’ll be plagued by worry, doubt, and fatigue. By understanding his sovereignty, you’ll readily remember that God goes before you and God comes behind you as you faithfully serve him.

You may feel inadequate in your walk with Christ, but God created you for just this very moment, and he believes in you. He is able to take what you give and use it for his glory, and he is able to handle any of your problems or concerns: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him …” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Why is this important?

· God is sovereign -- and that means he’s capable of providing for your every need. If you don’t trust that, ask God to show you why? I believe, Lord; help my unbelief.

· God’s greatness – Focus on God's sovereignty by remembering his greatness. We have a tendency to maximize our problems and minimize God's greatness. But when we do that, we also minimize - in our minds - God's ability to handle any problem. Instead, praise God for his greatness.

· When you pray, praise God. Begin your prayers by acknowledging God's sovereignty. You could start by quoting I Chronicles 29:11, "Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything." As you get to know God, you can add other praises related to his power, his goodness, and his faithfulness.

· Hezekiah’s Prayer -- When the city of Jerusalem faced certain destruction from an advancing army, Hezekiah, the king of Israel, sought God in prayer -- but instead of starting off with the problem of Jerusalem's imminent destruction, he first praised God and acknowledged God’s sovereignty: “God, God of Israel, seated in majesty on the cherubim-throne. You are the one and only God, sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, maker of heaven, maker of earth ….” (2 Kings 19:15-16).

Bridget Jones' Diary

Ughh. Day number 142.

This is a FAT day.

The kind of day that makes you cringe at everything you eat, as if each thing will automatically add 2 lbs to your mass upon swallowing.

This is the kind of day when you have trouble zipping up your pants.

This is the kind of day when you put your scale as far away from you as possible. It is your absolute WORST enemy.

This is the kind of day you exercise as much as possible and reward yourself with some ice cream. The exercise makes you feel victorious, so of course, you have to celebrate with a treat.

You burnt off all those calories anyway, right?

This is the kind of day that you just let it go, after all, its just one day.

Tomorrow it will be much better.

I promise.

Pink Clouds & Socks

The sky was cotton candy pink tonight. Bubblegum, ballet shoes, a string of pearls, bridal pink - soft and inviting, like a down comforter.

Sorry, floating in la la land here.

While folding my laundry this evening, a stowaway brown sock, fitting a foot belonging to my husband fell out. Sigh. A lone ranger it was, no other sock to make it a pair. Kinda like him and I when we're apart.

No boohoo-hooing here. The man has safely arrived in Pennsylvania after a 30+ hour drive and the days are flying by like sparrows in the sky.

Gentle Cycle

My meditations on an ordinary laundry day:

We all know the routine. The break up of the darks and lights, the stain stick being liberally applied to those articles of a more soiled nature. With one basket on each hip, I carefully make my way down the stairway, over a 73 lb labrador and through the kitchen only to be met by one final obstacle. . . the garage door. PUtting both baskets down, I brace open the door with an agile foot and push one basket after another through. Whew.

I tip in the first load, cascades of smelly clothing fall in. The trick is to settle all the clothing in a centered ring around the middle to prevent the 'hiccups' that sometimes happen in unbalanced loads.
Now to select the settings. . . hmm. Always seems like such a gamble, but I test the water for the "Cold" setting. Didn't mom always say that that cold would keep the colors from bleeding? Or was it warm? Oh well - we always find out the hard way, right?

Water starts filling the full barrel. Time for the best part - detergent. The smell is absolutely intoxicating. . . if I didn't hold myself down to sanity, I'd be washing my hair in this stuff. After filling a cup halfway, I make three circles of dribblings all over the clothing. Then, I slam down the lid and pull the lever for a majestic finish.

Time for the washing machine to do its magic. Who ever said doing the laundry was a monotonous chore?

So Far Away

Well, its 4:40am and I just kissed my hubby goodbye. He jumped into a luggage-laden A-Lert truck and is off to Pennsylvania. Sigh.

I feel like all of the things I want to say are stuck in my head. Maybe its just because its so early in the morning. I was having trouble going back to sleep, but now I am realizing quickly that if I don't, it might be a pretty lousy Monday.

So life goes on.

This time around, I feel like we are somewhatly better prepared. We have cellphones with cameras & text messaging, and he has a laptop with internet (so he can read how sappy his wife gets when he's away ;)

And this time around, grounded in me even more is how I will never take this wonderful man for granted. He is my hero.

I love ya Babe.

*and now, I am crawling back into bed for a tidgen-of-a-smidgen more sleep ;)

Girl, put your records on!

(To quote m'dear Corrine Bailey Rae)

More like 'Girl, put your bloggin' on!'

Excuse my absence. Excuse this spurt of random-ness. I guess that I am just so happy to be sitting down and actually blogging again, that I have lost my mind

(what else is new, and hey, no comments from my little peanut gallery on that ;) - yes, I mean you, WILL & JULIA) ;0) (-:

Well, here's the what's up 'round here. . . Haven is going to be leaving for Pennsylvania Monday morning (or, perhaps, late Sunday night). This project is a big cahoona - its actually the Hershey's cocoa plant that they'll be working on :) -
Hmm, maybe I can wrangle some free chocolate out of the deal (I mean, after all, I am giving up my hubby for several weeks. . . ;)

We enjoyed spending some of the fruits of Haven's labor this week, with upgrading our ancient cellphones to new, sleek ones. . . & they are camera phones :) and yes, we finally got text messaging! WOHOO. Oh, and mine is pink ;)

Okay, so we just got back from seeing the Simpsons movie - pretty silly stuff. My DH was pretty amazed at all the new and funny lines. You'd think that things with the Simpsons would get a little stale after all these years, but that Matt Groening is kind of a genius at putting out hilarious material.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new BSF year in the book of Matthew. Training is going to be all morning, and then we start our class the Tuesday after Labor Day - I am going to be leading in the Children's ministry this year, which is really exciting & altogether overwhelming at the same time. . . I was able to rearrange my work schedule a little bit to get a couple of hours off in the middle of each day to be able to prepare. I am encouraged at how God covers a fretful soul with peace!

Someday I will get my camera from my parents - here's a little snap of us from our trip :)

V is Very Very, Exrta-Ordinary ;)

We're home :) Well, we've actually been home, but I have not had a chance to sit down and write a little bloggerro until now.

It was a lovely wedding. The bride was gorgeous, the flowers were perfect and the day was spectacular. Everything went without a hitch (except the bride and groom of course ;)

Haven and I had a chance to visit grandma and his uncle in Baltimore as well. It was so good to squeeze in a visit. We even had a late night excursion to the harbor. Its definitely a place we would like to come back too.

I know, this is the part where I am supposed to have pictures - well, this is the part where I have to confess to you that I managed to leave my camera in D.C., but, I did remember it just in time for a family member to pick it up for us. Alas, no pictures for now.

Haven is deciding when he will leave for his next project today. Its been really nice because his boss has let him have that flexibility. He might be in Pennsylvania this time, but will be able to come home more often. I know it sounds rough all this time apart, but I am amazed to see how sustaining the Lord is, and our marriage has grown so much from it. We do hate to be apart, but we are troopers, and I am so excited at how the Lord is leading my hubby :)

Anyway, I have to go get ready for work. Hope ya'll have a happy Tuesday!

Jetta

My hubby is finally home. :)

I am pretty sure that we can handle any amount of distance and time apart now ;)

(not that I want that, but there has been something about this time to build up some emotional fortitude, and the homecoming was indescribably awesome)

~

Well, I am packing for our trip out to D.C. for David and Kirsten's wedding on Saturday! Wohoo!!! I am so excited!!! Family weddings are the best!

While we are in that general area, we are going to try to visit some of Haven's family in MD. It will definitely be a whirlwind trip.

Haven does have to go back to KS next Monday, after we get home, never fear though, this time is much shorter, and he'll be back by the weekend, most likely.

Well, I got to jet. Ta ta everyone - be back Sunday!

P.S. This font is so huge - I apologize, I have it on normal font, I think that there is a little quirk in my system :)

At Last

At last. My man has come along. My lonely days are over. And life is like a song

Tonight I am going to bed and I will wake up to a new day. A new day when I will see him again.

Life apart is hard, but time flew.

I can cross 33 days off the calendar and can truly say that God gave us strength, hope and was ever faithful to us.

What a blessing . . .

This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made

Today is the day of rest for the week. Today I am delivered from this chaotic position of 'doggy-sitter'.

For the past two days, I have had my parents two boston terriers. The little one has 'terrorized' my household with misplaced poops, chewings here and there on rugs and flip flops, and has tried to take on Hector several times. I am tired. They should be tired too - where is all this energy come from? Will they finally burn out from ripping around the house, up and down stairs?

How about trying to settle three dogs of different natures for the evening? Ummm. . . lets just say that I have not slept very well these nights. Is this what life is like with kids? (Believe me, I still would rather have kids!)


So anyway, that was my weekend, dogsitting and trying to finish a couple of things before my hubby comes home. WOHOO - TUESDAY!!!!


I have a ton of pictures I need to upload from last weekend's family trip to Six Flags, and some other things. :)

Happy Sunday to everyone!

Of these little breakdowns

Thank you Lord for these tears, for tears help me to appreciate smiles all the more.

Thank you Lord for surprising me, for challenging me, for stretching me in ways I never thought I could be stretched. It may hurt for a while, but it is for a purpose good and wondrous.

Thank you for teaching me to wait on You. Life has such ups and downs, uncertainties and hiccups. Thank you for being Constant.

. . . and yes, even for these little breakdowns

Of days grown short

There doesn't seem a lot to tell of lately. I am working (undercover) on the house, and it is almost done. I am getting excited about how its looking too ;) I will post pictures, AFTER AFTER AFTER my love comes home ;)

And the countdown, yes, the countdown. But I suppose you probably don't really care as much as I do about that. Its 9 days, by the way. ;)

Hector just begged me to let him out so that he could chase a poor bunny dizzy around our yard. That dog is driving me insane. (My brother is convinced that its because we named him Hector.)

Is tonight a full moon night? Just wondering - he is turning into such a wolfy-beast.

Today, after church, I met with the family to go see the Bourne Ultimatum - go see it, its great! It was the best of the bunch so far, I think.

I spent the rest of the afternoon going through a big box full of pictures from all sorts of things; high school graduation, baby pictures, family reunions, college days, our old house in CA, my parents wedding pictures, my grandmother's wedding reception, the horse I had in high school, etc, etc. Such memories - I am hoping to scan a ton of these!

Well, I am waning, the dog is whining, and this post is whittling.
Goodnight :)

11 more days

Till my hubby comes home!