Show us your Life-Single Friends

So I'm an avid reader of Kelly's Korner and when she announced she was doing "Show us Your Single Friends" I immediately thought of my friend Andrea! Andrea is 26 and from Northeast Ohio. We have been friends for about 20 years and I couldn't ask for a a better friend.

She works for a local newspaper in sales. She also works with the youth group at church. She loves the Lord with all her heart and wants to follow His will for her life. She enjoys going to movies and hanging out with friends. She also loves to travel! She is very close with her wonderful family and her niece and nephews adore her (hint hint: great wife)

She is a catch! Any guy would be lucky to have her!!!

Forever

Forever God is faithful,

Forever God is strong,

Forever God is with us,

Forever.

We sang this song in church this morning. I have always loved this song. Today, was no exception. I have always loved the words to this song, but never actually believed them, at least not for myself.

I believed them for other people and know they are true. Not that I don’t think God is faithful and strong and with us, because I do believe all of that. I have just never truly believed it to my core and looked for the evidence.

When I “re-look” over my life, I should have truly been believing these words to my core, but because of my own selfishness, I didn’t see that.

Imagine if I had.

Imagine the difference my attitude could have been in different situations.

Right now, in my life, I can honestly say I can see God in ways that I have never seen him. Circumstances in my life are different, yes, but I see God at work in more ways than one. I can see a light at the end of tunnel. For all that I have been through, I can finally see how God is using it for His good and my good.

It is always amazing to me how pessimistic I can be. This is where I need to apply that God is faithful, strong and with us. No matter what the situation, I need to look back and see the evidence of God’s faithfulness and realize He will come through. Maybe not in exact way I would like, but He will come through in His way.

He knows what is best for me, even when I don’t know what’s best for me.

Dear Face....

You are 24 years old, please stop breaking out like a 15 year old.

Thank you,

Your owner

For Real...about my job...

So I have had this blog for a long time and I rarely post...why? I don't know...I have plenty of time on my hands, but I don't do it! So for real this time, I am going to post about my job!

Some days, I love my job, other days its okay and then other days, I absolutely hate it! The family who I live with and work for is fantastic and their kids are, for the most part, great.

There are 5 kids...4 boys and 1 girl (with the girl being the oldest at age 12). The boys are ages 10, 9, 6 and 4.

My job is not the same from one day to another...one day can be fantastic and the next day can be the worst day ever! What I am learning is that sleep is so important to kids and if they don't get enough or it is interrupted, then their mood is off the entire day. This always makes my job a little challenging especially when it comes time to do homework!

Anyway, to get to the point or well I don't really know if there is a point but I will pretend there is, here is a typical day in the life of me as a nanny

6:45 or 7-wake up!

7:30-begin work! I usually begin by packing lunches or making breakfast (it just depends on who is up and if they have had breakfast)

8:05-The 10, 9 and 6 year old are off to school...Goodbye and have a good day!

8:06-begin to clean up the kitchen and do dishes while the 4 year old watches "Martha Speaks" and "Curious George" (his 1 hour of television a day)

9:00-4 year old goes to school....FREEDOM!

9am-12pm-off (exercising or doing something random) or run errands for the mom

12pm-4 year old finishes school comes home for lunch

12:30-2:30-I do projects with the 4 year old or play games or he has a playdate

2:30-begin to prepare snack for the older kids

2:50-12 year old returns from school

3:10-the boys return from school

3:30-kids begin homework or they have a playdate depending upon what activities are later on in the evening

4:30-begin to prepare dinner

(some kids are doing activities between 4:30 and 7...so most of the time I am on my own for dinner and homework)

5:30-dinner

5:45-clean up after dinner

6:00-everyone must read for 20 minutes in their rooms

6:20-baths/showers are started and homework is finished

7:30-4 year old goes to bed

7:45/8ish-6 year old goes to bed

8:30ish-9 and 10 year old go to bed

9ish-12 year old goes to bed

I usually finish working at about 7:30 when the 4 year old goes to bed! It is a long day, but I enjoy it.

Wondering however....when you were growing up, was everything so scheduled?!

Stronger...

So I still have yet to write about my job or anything that I do with my time....someday!  And yet again this is another post about a song...oh well!  I feel like God speaks to me through songs a lot of the time!  So...another post about a song it is!  

Today I was in the car running errands and the song "Stronger" by Hillsong comes on my ipod.  I have a lot of Hillsong on my ipod and have just added a lot more.  Well, I had never heard this song, and I think that I listened to the song about 6 times because the words are so powerful.  My favorite lines are these:

You are stronger.
You are stronger.
Sin is broken.
You have saved me.
It is written,
Christ is risen
Jesus You, are Lord of all

These are my favorite lines because I realize that in my life God is stronger than I make Him to be.  I doubt God all the time.  I don't trust God in every area of my life.  I don't treat others the way I should.  I could make a list about a mile long of things that I feel like I should be better at doing.  

The words in this song are so powerful because God is stronger and because of what Christ did on the cross, I don't have to be perfect and I know that in my failure's Christ is Stronger. 

There's No Such Thing as Perfect People...

There's no such thing as perfect people.

There's no such thing as a perfect life,

so come as you are, broken and scarred,

lift up your heart and be amazed, and be changed

by a Perfect God!

~Natalie Grant

I heard this song on the radio yesterday, I had never heard it before (even though it is on my iPod, but I also have 734 other songs on there, so there's a good chance, I had never heard it) These past few weeks have been quite challenging for me.  There's not just one big thing in my life that's challenging, but lots of little things. So while in the car yesterday, this song really struck me....I have been trying in the past few weeks to be the "Perfect Person".  I know that I can't be...I want to be though!  I want to be the perfect Christian, the perfect nanny, the perfect daughter, the perfect sister, the perfect friend.... and the list goes on.  I have tried and failed.  I get so upset at myself when I fail, but this song reminded me,

I'm not perfect,

I don't have the perfect life, and will never,

but I do have, a Perfect God.   

And because of that, I can be changed, my life can be changed by that Perfect God.  

Keep making cakes

Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.

--Luke 6:38 

(The Message)

This past Sunday, at church, the pastor talked about the story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath. Now, I had never heard this story, but here is the gist....there is a famine in the land and Elijah is commanded by the Lord to go to Zarephath and he would be taken care of by the widow.  So when Elijah gets there, he finds this woman and asks for some water...and then some bread.  Well the woman is very poor and hello there is a famine in the land...she brings him water but tells him she only has a little bit of flour and oil and that she was gathering sticks to make bread at her house and after that she and her son were going to die.  So Elijah says that alright well go home and make me a small cake and THEN have some for yourself and your son.  (a lot of guts right?!)  He says this, "for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "   and so it ends up that she follows Elijah's instructions and never runs out of flour or oil.  

So at this point in the sermon, I'm like okay good sermon.  Have faith and it will happen.  Well I was wrong.  The sermon was about generosity.  I have to say that I was a little bit surprised.  I don't really know why, but I was.  He talked about what would have happened if the widow would not have made Elijah the cake.....she would have died.  I never think about the "what would have happeneds in the Bible".  But the woman would have died....if she didn't have the faith or feel the generosity towards Elijah then she would have DIED!  The pastor also talked about how God has a "self-donating" life.  He gives everyday and according to St. Thomas Aquinas, what the Father does everyday is "he enjoys himself" because he is giving of himself.  The line that stuck out to me in the sermon was, 

Refusing to give ourselves away will kill us and possibly the closest people to us

The pastor then went on to talk about the 3 types of people.  The first type of person is the person who is generous and gives of themselves freely.  These people have learned to TRUST.  The second group of people are the people who are withholding.  They don't trust.  He challenged these people to in Group 1, Keep making cakes and Group 2....start making cakes.  And then he went on to talk about Group 3.  Group 3 are the people who do TRUST, but don't get anything in return.  These people are pouring their lives into something...and  have gotten squat in return...are getting ground into the dirt.  He challenged these people, if they can, to Keep Making Cake.  

This got me thinking.  How many times do I quit making cake?  Do I give up too soon?  Do I make enough cake?  How can I make more cake?  There are many areas in my life, friendships, family and my job, that I gave up on too soon.  So now, my job is too go back and try to make some more cake.  

So I am going to keep making cake....