Day 2

On the 2nd Day of Christmas I am thankful for.......almost always procrastinating. HAHA you didn't see that one coming did you? Why am I thankful for procrastinating....because for some odd reason I seem to do MUCH better under pressure, not to mention that I often get it completed much quicker. So have I completed all of my work that is due tomorrow morning...yes but the real question is when did I start it?? Why that would be tonight!!! haha. Have I finished my Christmas Shopping? NOPE, sorry to say I haven't - but I might by next week this time - actually I am making a left to buy list and completing it on Wednesday and I am making TRISH make me stick to it and get it completed.

Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time.

The 12 Days of Christmas - My version of 30 days of Thankfulness

So everyone usually does thankfulness for the month of November leading up to
Thanksgiving....me being me would like to do the 12 days of Christmas - simply put because I know I can keep up with 12 days. Over the next 12 days I am going to share something that I am Thankful for.

Day 1: I am thankful for my co-workers. I work with a SUPER bunch of people who never cease to amaze me with their positiveness, their concern, their happiness, their ability to laugh, their love of what they do, and most of all their friendship. What a great group of people! No matter what mood you come into work in you are guaranteed to leave laughing. This is for my co-workers.

A Time for Thanksgiving

Over the last 8 weeks, my family has had a rough time. A short eight weeks ago we found out my father had cancer. Over the next couple of weeks, decisions had to be made - what treatment to do, what not to do. CANCER is a nasty word. No matter how prepared you are for the diagnosis, it hits hard when you realize that its there and its right in front of you. To top that off, its hard to believe it, understand it, cope with it, and come to terms with it when it involves your parents. That is when you turn to hope and faith.

With faith comes hope - a hope that no matter what God will see you through the times. Faith is trusting in what you can't see because of what you can see.

Surgery was had on November 11 (Veteran's Day, Papa Boo's birthday). Everything went well, the doctor seemed to think that everything looked good. Now the wait began on the pathology reports to make sure the cancer hadn't spread. FINALLY the results came in the Tuesday before Thanksgiving - the cancer was centralized. It had not spread to the lymph nodes. An answer to prayers in a big way - I believe that this was God's favor happening in our lives. Without unconditional faith in him, through him - the worries would have kept us thinking the worst throughout the last 8 weeks, but with God and our faith we didn't let the "Worry fairy" keep us busy worrying about something we had no control over.

Thanksgiving was a joyous occasion this year at our house - we had a lot to be THANKFUL for. So I ask you, to think about what is going on in your life and around you - What are you thankful for this year? How has God shown his favor in your life?

Stress and Control

Stress is a nasty 6 letter word. Life in the past couple of weeks has been stressful and we all deal with stress a little differently. I tend to turn inwards and then will eventually break. Friday was my break day. I was done...put in a fork in me, call me well-done, completely cooked through. Through stress we need to turn to God and listen to what he is telling us. I completely turned the stressful situation over to him, and he handled it for me. Prayers were answered.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:14 - 16

We (including myself) need to be patient and trust in the Lord. He will turn the situation around. He never gives us more than we can handle, even if we think it is more than we can handle. Memento mori, a Latin phrase, is translated, “Remember you are mortal.” We are mortal and cannot control everything and for most of us (including me) that is a hard thing to remember to turn over to God. Through him all things are possible. Stressed spelled backwards is desserts - so forget the stress and go straight to the dessert of all time - GOD!!

Heaven gained another angel tonight

Jaime and her best friend Danelle

Tonight heaven gained another angel. My friend Jaime went home to be with the Lord. Jaime was a beautiful person on the inside and the outside. I remember all of the pranks she pulled in college - saran wrapping the cars of a friend while they were in class, shaving creaming the car, if I remember correctly she even moved someone's car one time. Jaime or as we called her "Haime" (thanks to a professor who pronounced her name with an H sound instead of a J - and it stuck) always and I mean ALWAYS had a smile on her face. She could be stressed out and freaking out on the inside but she always showed the world how happy she was to be here. She was a loving friend, coach, youth leader, sister, aunt, daughter, etc and will be greatly missed by all those who knew her. The students' lives she impacted through her teaching, through her coaching, and through her working with the youth at her church show what an amazing person she is.

Jaime we love you and will miss you always, but we know that you are up in Heaven dancing with the Lord and smiling!!

Psalm 16

A David Song

^1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you. I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

Charleston, SC

WOOHOO!!! I recently hit one of the locations on my Travel Bucket List. Along with 2 of my

friends I went to Charleston, SC. What a beautiful city. The buildings, the history, the beach - just a few of my favorite things all in one location.

We arrived and began walking the city. After 4 hours of walking and a delicious lunch at Blossom, we went and checked into our hotel in the heart of the Historic District on Meeting St. We relaxed a little, went to the pool, and then got ready for dinner. We decided to go somewhere near and ended up at Hyman's Seafood - very good food and TONS of it - I recommend sharing a plate - so MUCH food.

The next day we decided to hit the Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, Boone Hall Plantation, Cooper River Bridge, Charles Pickney Historical Site, and saw the USS Yorktown and the

submarine. It was a super busy day!! We ended up at Shem Creek for dinner.

The next day was our last day. We decided to tour another plantation - after some discussion we decided to do visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. BEAUTIFUL!! I recommend it - the grounds were gorgeous well worth the price. The history behind the plantations are just amazing to hear. After touring the grounds we headed out of Charleston.

I loved hearing the history behind all of the places that we visited, seeing the architecture, and just enjoying the vacation!! Charleston is a place that I will go back to!! I may have found my retirement city....beach and history all combined in one. Yes, I do believe I can do this.

Life

Life is short and that is never more evident then when you find out one of your friends has stage 4 cancer - at the age of 33!! However, this wonderful, smiling, always happy friend of mine has something going for her - she knows the Lord. Please lift a prayer up for Jaime over the next weeks, months etc as the doctors do all they can to help her fight this battle with all of their knowledge. She and God are going to fight this battle and win. I posted part of Josh Turner's song Me and God on her wall today:

He's my Father, He's my friend, The beginning, And the end, He rules the world, With a staff and rod
We're a team. Me and God
I am weak and he is strong, Me and God, He forgives me when I'm wrong, Me and God, He's the one I lean on, When life gets hard, Me and God

Through Jaime's struggles, I came to realize that there are several people that I need to forgive in my family. I will never agree with everything they do, and I admit I will probably never understand why they do half of what they do, but they are family and because of that I need to FORGIVE them. I need to show them that with me and God working together there is nothing he can't do!!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 states: So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing

It is time that I encourage instead of discourage. Feelings have been hurt, but it is now time to move on.

Ephesians 4:32 states: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you

It is time to be kind!! It is time to forgive!!

Romans 12:17 states: Never pay back evil with evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable

Now is my time to be honorable, to show that me and God can overcome some of the petty family matters that have occurred.

I'm not saying this is going to be easy. In fact, I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things that I will ever do BUT I know that I have God on my side and that with him and thru him I can do anything!!!

It is time for me to do as 1 Peter 5:6 - 7 states: So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.