MY DAD

I know Father's Day has come & gone, and I neglected to post about my dad. So he gets today. My dad is the oldest of a lot of kids (and we will leave it at that for my grandmother's sake). He grew up poor, worked hard, went to college, graduated college (which apparently they did not even think was going to happen and neglected to order him a diploma), got a good job, married a cute little blonde (NOT her natural color.. BTW she thought he WOULD NEVER get mad at HER because she was so cute:0) Yeah we LOL that one too!) and had him some daughters. Daughters he worked like sons. Daughters he loved like princesses. Daughters who he had no idea how to deal with (having only one sister). My dad instilled in us all hard work & integrity. It was never "if" we went to college, but WHEN we went to college. May I brag and say we all did:o) He taught us to stand up for what was right. To say we all have a tendency to become a tad bit vocal when we see injustice living out before us would be an understatement. He instilled in us a love for basketball and a tolerance for westerns. My dad is not overtly religious, but those times it comes through it shines like the Son and is as solid as the very Rock it is built on. He also taught us how to laugh... good deep belly laughs and provided us with many opportunities to do so. He likes to tell new people he meets that I am his oldest daughter by his first wife, which just gets their gossip juices a wondering. From dad I learned how to ride a horse, drive a tractor, haul hay, clean quail, and shoot a jump shot. I learned how to stand and fight when I needed to and how to walk away when it was called for. We have spent countless hours on horseback and in the woods- hunting, chopping firewood, clearing fence. Dad has seen hard times as well. He has buried as many siblings as I have. He has spent years working for a dream that has yet to come to total fruition.
My dad is one of a kind. Whether he was imitating Bod and dancing going "boo-doop-di-doop", working on his quick draw, or strapping my youngest to the front of the tractor in the winter so he could hay the cows (yes there was a box of sorts and my kid was perfectly safe- hindsight is a nice thing), he keeps us constantly entertained. And constantly in check.
So dad , on this very special day - I love you and am proud to be your first kid by your first wife.
(okay mom, go get him and let him read it:o)
Love you dad!
" I am not responsible for what people think I am only responsible for who I am."

HELLO AGAIN!

Back from the world of dentists and vets and more dentists. All went well.. better than well. Root canal has been virtually pain free...Praise the Lord. Did a little work on my thought closet - made a little headway-that is always good!
Reading in scripture today, Hosea 6:1-3 struck me. The title is a call to repentance.

Come, and let us return to the LORD

For He has torn, but He will heal us;

He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

2 After two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight.

3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.

His going forth is established as the morning;

He will come to us like the rain,

Like the latter and former rain to the earth

Now my commentary at the bottom says that this is Israel crying out but that in the process they blame God for their troubles. Eh- I don't know.

But here is a thought that came across my mind:

In many of our lives God tears down and out the stuff that separates us from Him. And as I understand it anything that separates us from God is called one thing ... sin. Whether we mean for it to be there or not it is still sin. Fear or anxiety (hello me), anger or bitterness (oh sorry me again), idleness of time, lack of discipline, maybe even things you think as good - volunteering, church work, regular work... whatever you deal with, because as you can see my plate is full. Anyway, what God tears out of me, He will heal up. What repentance He has stricken me with, He will bind up. The consequences of my sin that He has allowed, He will walk me through when I repent. He wants me to pursue faithfulness and loyalty to Him and Him alone, to love Him like no other. Now this is not to stay by any means that whatever you are going through is a punishment from God. Sometimes stuff just happens. Sickness, death, loss of jobs whatever. Look at Job. However, in either case, He can be glorified and work it for good if we seek Him.

That is my challenge to myself today. To repent and let Him do His good and perfect will in my life. To let Him remodel me from the inside out.

His going forth is established, His goodness and perfection are established, His word is established, as sure as the sun will rise until He tells it to stop.

So whatever you are dealing with, let Him have it. He will redeem it. He bankrupts the Pawn Shop of our lives. He has bought us and all our stuff back through Christ Jesus. He loves us so! Me & you:)

SUMMER TIME

How do you know it is summer in the South? When perfectly good dogs go from looking like this:

Beauty isn't she?
Handsome fella, right?
To looking like this:

One word......

MUFASA!
Mainly for our enjoyment:o)

I do the same thing after I have a haircut- it is so freeing! PS- Root canal went great today (at least part 1). Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming!

DOWN & OUT

Due to some serious tooth pain, a trip to the dentist and the report of a root canal, I will be off blog world till Friday. Please pray for God's hand on my oh so anxious mind, that I remember my God is in control and for quick recovery. Thank you.

DEFINING MOMENT

I DVR'd Oprah the other day to watch the Elizabeth Edwards interview. Let me state up front I do not typically watch Oprah, especially with her secret and all, however, I did want to hear what Mrs. Edward's had to say. I have to say, I thought it was really good & honest. (Note I am also not a fan of John Edwards, even before his running arounds).

Elizabeth talked about how she found out, the lack of trust, how she found out AGAIN, the anger, why she is still married etc. One point she made has come back to my mind in the
wee hours of the morning. I won't get it word for word because it was the wee hours of the morning but the gist of it goes like this:

When asked why she did not leave, her reply was basically that she was not going to let this affair define her marriage. She and the mister had 30 good years together. 30 years of love and patience and support and loyalty and she could not & would not let this mistake nullify all of that. Does not mean he is not suffering consequences. It does not mean she is all Pollyanna about the whole thing. But what she looked at was the relationship that had been built over time.

Now I do not know what the Edwards family's religious beliefs are- but I have got to say her response prompted me to think about my God. How He does the same.

On the same night as I watched Mrs. Edward's the Lord woke me at 12:30 am. (Yes that is VERY early). Was not really sure what He wanted, and knew I needed to finish my Deeper Still study for the week, so I got up and worked on that. It was right on track with Mrs. Edward's interview.

All of this to say how grateful I am that the Lord does not let my sin define me or our relationship. Especially after the last four weeks of bitterness. Grateful that the plans for me that He has are not negated totally by my shortcomings. Are they delayed? Quite possibly. But never totally wiped off His agenda. Grateful for a God who calls an adultery committing murderer a man after His own heart. Grateful to a God who says that a man who slept with his wife's handmaiden to conceive a child God had promised he & his wife ALONE, never waivered in his faith. Grateful to a God who takes a harlot from a town and has the gall to put her in the lineage of His One, True & Holy Son!

Grateful to a God who still has plans for me, who looks at our relationship to define me, more importantly He looks at Christ in me to define me, and who will stick by me, consequences and all.

SICK FEELING

I went in yesterday to do my bible study, but needed to be dealt with first about the bitterness. This is what came out of it. Sometimes it rhymes & sometimes it doesn't. Don't know if it was meant to. So be kind you grammar kings & queens:)

Sick in the pit of my stomach.
Yep - that is how it felt.
When I let the bitterness card
cease to be dealt.
When I turned my thoughts toward Him
and away from them.
Bitterness is a tricky business;
profitable as it may seem.
The retaliation you could have done
but never would
because you hold yourself in high esteem.
Makes you think you have taken the higher road,
but a higher road in sin is still a road in sin,
and on that road is not a race
that I desire to win.
When bitterness is gone, you see where you fell short
maybe not of man's standard but of His.
Maybe I did act better than they,
but it is His standard I am called to obey.
Sick in the pit of my stomach.
However, I will not linger there,
for Christ took the cross I was meant to bear.
Before His glorious throne I bow
repenting and turning in the here and now.
He is quick to forgive.
His blood He does so freely give.
I messed up - no one but me
In that throne room He is all I see
Not them or him or her or they;
it really does not matter what anyone has to say.
Only Christ can forgive what I have done
and it is His race that I hope to have won.

LOVE SONGS

HH wrote me the sweetest love song... wanna see it?

Isn't it lovely? Remember here, I told you fashion was his love language. You eyes are not deceiving you - that is HOT PINK! Shiny, grey & hot pink Under Armor shoes. Why you ask? Because I am a heck of a UFC party hostess and that makes him love me even more! That and the fact that I would never have bought those for myself and if he wants me to have any fashionista in me or on me he is gonna have to buy it himself.