Meeting a mentor...

For the past few years, I have had to desire to learn and study the Bible. The stronger my christian walk has become the more urgent calling has become. Growing up, I loved school with all the trimmings of studying, research papers and reading. All of that kinda got put on a back burner once I became an adult with a marriage, a career and children. Well now the kids are grown(praise the Lord) and the career is stable(praise the Lord) and the marriage is healthy also(Again PRAISE THE LORD)! The desire to be a student again has resurfaced and the chosen course is logically the Bible....A book that I adore and love to read but I long to understand and comprehend more...

Over the past few years, I have been very fortunate to participate in some outstanding bible studies that were written by Beth Moore. A small group of ladies at our church have done several including Fruits of the Spirit, When Godly People do Ungodly Things, Psalms of the Accent and Esther just to name a few. We have travelled to a couple of her seminars/conference and enjoyed her teachings along with some really good fellowship.

On Wednesday, Beth Moore was in town for a book signing and I decided to go. Now if you know much about me - I rarely miss work for anything...anything...but I felt led to do so this time and I indulged myself. I purchased the book and waited in line along with 300 hundred other women (maybe a man or two). It was a wonderful adventure....met some really nice ladies....one who just turned 80 and was living her dream to the fullest!!!

When the time arrived, we were given instructions as to not hold Beth up - no pictures, no personal talk, etc...the standard bookstore info for authors. But when Beth arrived - she was different. She was a normal just like us.....

Not only did she sign each and every book - she hugged each lady - talked with each lady - listened to each lady...you get the picture. She gets it....it is not about fame or fortune for her...it is all about showing Christ to the world one person at a time....one smile, one hug, one laugh, one good hair day, one life to live for our savior!

I had a great time and left the experience with exactly what I needed. Thank you Beth Moore for your service to the Lord! Thank you for being real with everyone! Thank you for not only talking the talk but for walking the walk. Your witness is real!

This is how it is supposed to be....I pray that the world see it through me also. This is my prayer o Lord....that when the world sees me -they really just see you!!!!

Thank you Lord for Darryl!

What a tragic week this has been, our community has lost two great men - one to colon cancer and one to a mass heart attack. Both were Christians, both teachers, both high school coaches, both too young to be taken from their families and loved ones.

If you know anything about my life - you can see why this hits home so easily. As I am married to a high school football coach whom I adore with every ounce of my being. He too is a Christian, battles a incurable disease and suffers from chest pain from time to time especially during the season of play. The thought of losing him is unbearable and the pain is insoleable.

What would I do? What will these families do? What will the young people effected do? It my prayer that they would take refuge in Lord - comfort in knowing that these men they love are in heaven - free of all pain -they have stood in the presence of the Lord. They are feasting at a magnificent table and they are home!

For those that remain, the days ahead will be blur for a while - they will need the love, support and shoulders of so many. They will need Jesus! It is in our weakness moments that God carries us if we let him.

I know not when the time will come for Darryl or I to be called home but I do know where we are going and that gives me comfort, hope and joy. I must remember that this is just a temporary home!

So for today - rest in peace Coach Adair and Coach Thompson. And to Coach Burns - I love you more than you will ever know!!!

3:00 am and wide awake...

Most anyone who knows me knows that I am running at full speed most all of the time. So sleep has never been a problem for me. When I finally get in the bed at night - I am out like a automatic switch until the alarm clock goes off. However, at 3:00 am (one and a half hours before the clock is to go off) I am wide awake yesterday.

Fighting it was no use - I was awake - no chance of going back to sleep. So I let me mind begin to access the daily list of things to do and found that this would be a good time to talk with the Lord about a few things. Now normally my prayers always include request for various folks that are having difficulties, the world that we live, the problems of the day and of course a short thank you for all the blessings in my life Amen.

But this morning was different. As I still laid in bed, I could not help to talk with the Lord about all my blessings. A wonderful God fearing man sound asleep beside me, a cozy place to sleep, Lil Ben and Arthur snoring away on the bed with us. Annabelle just outside the bedroom door sleeping on her zebra pillow, in the room across my beautiful Jesus loving daughter in peaceful slumber - who can ask for anything more. My talk continued with thankfulness of a nice house, transportation, jobs that put food on the table, a memory that allows me to use the poverty of my past to help others now.

I thanked Him for my health and for the health of my family. I thanked Him for my son who also knows the Lord and has tender heart. For my friends who are truly just angels that He gave me to help get me through the trials and temptations of this world that we live in.

I found myself with tears streaming down my face for I realized that I am blessed far far more than I deserve to me. I apologized for taking so much for granted and not always taking time to give Him the credit He deserved for my life.

I ended my quiet time with a final thank you for His son - how hard that must have been to send Jesus to carry the weight of the world literally on his shoulders to save a poor sinner like me. As the songs - when He was on cross I was on His mind.

May I never take this this for granted especially when the world steps in and tries to show me different. My prayer will always be - "Lead me, guide me along the way. For if You lead me I cannot stray. Or just open my eyes that I may see I am lost if You take Your hand from me. I am blind without Your light to see. Lord just always let me Thy servant be. Lead me 0' Lord, won’t You lead me. Lead me, guide me along the way. For if You lead me I cannot stray!" Amen!

Again time has flown by..

How did I get so far behind (see picture above) on my postings? I have so much to put in print that I am afraid now that I will leave out some of the details.....It is now November and the last time I posted was about something that happened in March... I am going to try and recount the major things that has happened over the last 6 months in the coming days....so much to remember! Hope this posts are not boring but they are so precious and important to us.

One thing I do know is that the Lord has blessed us tremendously this year - sure we have had our share of trials and difficult situations but we have also had numerous victories and we are still careful to give God the glory in the good and the bad.

The one thing that really needs to be said today - is this - THANK YOU LORD - for all the blessings in my life, for my family, my friends, my health, my job, my dogs, and so many other things but most the number one reason that I thank You is for Your son - Jesus Christ- who died for my sins and who saved me from the eternal fires of Hell.

Picture perfect...Snow in March in Alabama

Alabama does not see much snow so when we got a good dusting of it on the first Sunday in March 2009 - everyone got their cameras out. I must say that this was the first time in my forty plus years on this earth that I had been to church while the snow was falling. The picture attached is at the back of our church- Wilton Baptist and it includes an old building that is no longer in use (actually it is to be removed from the site soon). However, it sure made for a perfect picture on this beautiful Sunday morning.

I stand amazed at the wonder of God's endless imagination - his artistry is beyond words. If earth can look this beautiful - I can only imagine the wonders of heaven.

Counting my blessings...

Last night as I was traveling home from work - in a fury to get to a meeting that I had called - a meeting that was important and I hated to be late. I was stuck in terrible traffic - the kind that does not move at all. I am not a patient person - I was late and needed to be on my way and yet here I was stuck in traffic no way to exit the interstate.....I fumed and fumed....waited and waited - finally we were slowly moving at a snail pace....slowly...slowly. As a reached the accident site, I was horrified at the thought of the families that had just been changed forever. The cars involved were unrecognizable -clothes were scattered in the trees - lives were lost. Chills ran all over me and suddenly I thanked God for the traffic, for the alone time in my vehicle, for everything. I am so selfish - I prayed for forgiveness and I counted my blessings.

Tomorrow I will probably be fussing about the traffic again but today I am thankful for all the obstacles that drop into my life......

GOD IS SO GOOD all the time!

Where did time go?

Where have I been? Why have I not updated this blog? Where did the time go? Just yesterday it was March - we were waiting on the new love of our life to come home....now it is July - Lil Ben is SIX months old....Was I kidnapped by aliens? How did I neglect posting for sooooooo long? I have loads of information to share....good times, bad times - all of them GLORY TO GOD times.... Get ready your are fixing to be on Burns information overload.... I will recapture the last 4 months soon....Life is changing for me in the next couple of weeks and I will have plenty of free time to blog...

Remember God is good all the time and all the time God is good! Have a wonderful day!!!