I love giving home made gifts…which one of the kids would you like?
July 27th, 2008
That’s what my body keeps telling me.
My mind doesn’t agree.
My mind seems to think that I can do it all and do it well.
My body is screaming at my mind telling it to stop and they are struggling.
ALOT.
I don’t know why I thought that I could complete a two week business trip to Mississippi with my children adn spend time with them and work and do extra stuff.
But I did it.
I’m not sure why I thought that I could come home from said trip and work, unpack, pack, redesign blogs, create business cards, have a social life, and take care of my responsibilities in a week.
But I did.
And then I’m not sure why I thought that after returning from San Francisco, which included a time zone change (a major one at that) and staying up until almost 2, if not later, California time every night and then come home and return to my “normal” life of being a mother, a business owner, an employee, a friend, etc would be accomplished.
But I did.
And today?
It all caught up with me.
I just finished all the things I had to do. And now I’m going to go rest.
And first thing tomorrow, I’m going to look at everything that’s going on and figure out what a 21 year old can accomplish and what a 31 year old can accomplish and stop doing the stuff that doesn’t match up.
Or at least try.
My mind is very convincing and my body is a follower… until it just gets fed up.
Like today.
A wise person told me several weeks ago that even Jesus took a nap. That phrase has stuck with me…I keep thinking about it. My body is aware of it, but my mind just didn’t want to believe it.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4:38 (NIV)
I had such an awesome time sharing my testimony with you all…and there’s a reason that I shared it when I did, despite being asked for over a year.
I wasn’t ready until now.
For whatever reason, I felt that sharing that, without a real live face in front of me would be in essence baring my soul. I’ve never felt compelled to share the whole story, not knowing who would read it, what they would think of me, etc. Sharing it at church was okay because, well, they’re Christians. We, as Christians, LOVE to hear those stories, but there are those that don’t.
Being the type of person who doesn’t like to offend or shove Jesus down people’s throats, sharing it publically, with those that I don’t know, make me uncomfortable.
Until last Thursday when I read in three different places that I should be public with my faith and that I should share what Christ has done for me.
Always trying to be obedient (I hate that word), I did.
And let me tell you, I’ve been blessed beyond belief, proof that being obedient pays off. (Could we teach this to my children please?)
As promised, I am putting up a Mr. Linky for those of you who wish to share a story of where God met you. I encourage you to do so. If you already have something written, pull it out of the archives and link up. And I am going to make it my personal goal this week to visit each and every single one of you to see what God had done in your life. You can even use my little graphic which I made… (proof that one of my God given gifts is NOT graphic design….)
I’d love to tell you that this carnival is for you, for the chance to win something, and you can if you link up, however honesty requires me to tell you that this is purely selfish. I NEED to hear these stories. I need to see His promises, His goodness, and what He is doing. I need to be reminded of that.
And so, go. post. share. be blessed. And make sure you link up because on Saturday, after I’ve been around, and I’ve read, and I’ve been blessed, I’m going to pick a winner or two for a book package that I’ve put together with more inspirational words.
So let’s answer a few more…and I was going to do this tomorrow but Becki and Soliloquy were antsy… because their questions were answered in this one… and because I’m nice, I’ll do it today…
Being a new believer that found Jesus in the way you did, what advice do you have for believers who are timid in sharing their faith? What offended you? What didn’t offend you? What drew you?
Jesus is all over the internet, you know that don’t you? He works through the internet, oh yes he does. And I have to wonder… do you think that Jesus is a Mac or PC user?
Regardless, yes, it was through the internet that I found my Jesus. Ok, so he wasn’t lost, I just decided not to go looking for him… waiting for Him to come to me. Because I like to play hard to get that way… it’s one of my better qualities. I even have a whole post about “playing the dating game with God” but I can’t flesh it out the way that I want. One day.
And although I fell head-over-heels-in-love with Jesus, I wasn’t quite ready to share how I felt about Him. It’s not that I wanted to hoard him to myself or anything, because I can share, but it was more that I was afraid of being labeled a Jesus Freak or Bible Thumper, both names with negative connotations in my “old world” mind.
And really? For me? I was going through a MAJOR change in my life with this whole God/Jesus/Saved/Church thing… and I was afraid at how people might react.
The short of the story was that Lisa B and I met on the internet through my business and she decided she wanted to be a Biblical Coach and needed some people to practice on. I had always found the Bible to be fascinating and I told her to sign me up. She never offended me. Ever. But I have a pretty open mind.
I started this blog the day I started attending church. So there wasn’t much old Heather out there, but I tip-toed around my faith. There were a few posts here and there that touched on it, but on May 29th, 2007 I proclaimed to the bloggy world that I needed to be more vocal about it. And I have.
Now, since then, I have been to many Christian and non-Christan blogs. I’m offended only by those who are the Christians that would make people say “well if that’s what Christianity is all about I don’t want anything to do with it” and really? They are few and far between. At least from what I’ve seen.
Lisa B wants me to share my testimony here on this blog-o-mine and maybe I will. One Day.
i’m guessing by some quick math that you finished your college education after your kids (at least one) were born. i have actually been meaning to write you an email about this because it amazes me and because i am in serious need of inspiration.
how how how did you possibly do that? it is currently a very difficult road for me.
This was not easy. At all. But the answer is, yes, I went back to school, for the 3rd time, when Matthew was 4 and Samara was 18 months.
Notice I said back. I went to college, Boston University to be exact, right after high school. It lasted a semester before I fell in love, dropped out, got knocked up, and married. And yes, in that order.
When I was pregnant with Samara, I did take a class or two because I wanted to go back but then stopped again but when my ex-husband and I split, my parents offered to let the kids and I move in with them and go back to school full time, while I continued to work full time. My dad said that I needed to get a degree and make something of myself so that I could support the kids and give them a decent life.
So I went back to school.
Yes. Work for 40 hours a week, 19-21 credit hours a semester and two children under the age of 5. But I did it. With the help of my parents and through the grace of God. I couldn’t have done this if I didn’t live at home with a phenomenal support system.
The up side to my arrangement was that I got my 4 year degree (another post for another time) in roughly 2.5 years but the downside is that I missed ALOT and I mean ALOT of my kids’ growing up. I’m grateful that my parents were there to help, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I love working from home now so that I don’t have to miss out on any more.
Except, homework. I would like to miss out on homework. And temper tantrums. And meltdowns.
I would love to go back and get my masters degree just to get it. I’m a geek in that I love school, but right now? There’s just no way. I’ll reconsider when (a) my kids are older and don’t require a sitter or a taxi (b) when they are grown and gone or (c) if i one day get married and have the support of my husband.
It was a tough three years, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I’d do it all over again. When I divorced, I was making $18k a year and couldn’t afford a car payment, rent, and daycare. The degree has helped me more than triple my annual salary and helped me with my business and my life over all.
A few months back you did a post about 7 Weird Things About Me and I am still fascinated by the fact that you don’t need a hairbrush.
Stupid question, which you probably can’t answer, but why the heck is that? I don’t get it. Who on this earth doesn’t NEED a flipp’in hairbrush?!?! I am at a loss.
I don’t know why that is and I can tell you that it’s not always been that way. And since you’ve brought this up no less than five times since I made that post, I’ve taken this little video of me when I fix my hair so that you can see what I do.
At one time I thought that perhaps it was my conditioner, or some product that I put in my hair, but since you keep talking about it, I’ve tested a few things and it’s just the way that it is.
Go ahead… watch and laugh at me. Seriously! You can laugh… because I? AM ROLLING….
I’m such a dork!
So that’s all for this installment… I’d answer more but I’ve got to play with my hair…
tomorrow we’ll touch on what makes me powerless, my mom’s dog, and more…
The Bible clearly states that we are supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves. And we all know that we need to replace that word neighbor with other people, not just those that live right next door.
The Bible does not say that we’re supposed to love our neighbor only when they do what we want them to. It just doesn’t.
So why do we live in a world that is so conditional?
Know what else the Bible says?
It says that whatever you do to others, you do to Jesus.
Now stop and think about that for just a second. Think of the last time someone hurt you and then think about them doing that to Jesus.
And when it happens to me? Like when someone totally screws me over I just want to look at them and say, “Dude. Do you know that you just pissed Jesus off?”
And then wonder if they would care.
Because honestly?
I don’t think they would.
And calling them out on dissing Jesus in addition to me just doesn’t make me feel better anymore.
With that, I’m off to check the mirror to see if I have a log in my eye…
My mother called this morning and asked me if I was watching…
After the 5 minute conversation about how I was an hour behind and that right now I was indeed watching, but instead of the New Kids, I was watching Naomi and how she beat someone up again, it dawned on me that if she was an hour ahead of me and they were on right then, then they would be on in an hour here.
Moreover, that meant that I would be at the station when they were on.
Excuse the run-ons… I am excited.
Anywho, as I was waiting to leave the hotel, I was conversing with the BFF and I was antsy. She was laughing at me and all of a sudden I stated….
“This is almost as exciting as the thought of Jesus coming back.” Now please don’t misunderstand, I don’t equate the New Kids with my Savior, but that’s how excited I am. Well, I’m more excited about Jesus coming back.
But then I said… “I really hope that He waits until after I get to see them just one more time. Oh wouldn’t that be a glorious day… I could see the New Kids and then Jesus could come back for me.”
Yes, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a dork. And I’m okay with that.
When I got to the station, I frantically tried to find a TV. (Isn’t that retarded… a TV station and I was having trouble finding a tv)… but I found one.
And there I gathered to watch them.
And HOW RETARDED IS THE TODAY SHOW? Did they REALLY think that we didn’t know who was behind the curtain? It’s like they were trying to hype up something that needed no hype. We knew who was back there… well those of us who havn’t been living under a rock or those of you who have been faithfully reading this blog for the past few months in which I’ve obsessed over this….you know all 10 of you.
They were good looking… even mom said so. But I’m stiill wondering why they were in the same suits that they were wearing in their promo picture? Surely they can afford more than one suit.
And I’m not digging Donnie’s hair, or lack there of. But he’s still my favorite. And Danny? Still looks like a Monkey… but one that’s evolving a bit. :D
Watch the New Kids’ people google blogs that talk about the return and it will ruin any chances of me EVER meeting them because I called Danny a primate.
Oh well. I speak the truth. You can’t ask any more from me.
Well, you could, I guess…
So if you missed the announcement, they’ll be singing on May 16th… in the plaza… so set your DVRs if you can. Its on my calendar.
I should probably get something done before I head to the airport to head home. I’ve promised those in the office that I would refrain from talking about NKOTB for as long as I could. I think I’m on 16 minutes so far…
If you look over in my side bar, you’ll see a new graphic there…
right there…
under the “what an honor” heading…
see it?
That was given to me.
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you believe it?
I can’t… and really?
I am honored.
Here’s what it’s all about…
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote about the fruit of the Spirit ~ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The Fruit of the Spirit graphic was developed in an effort to recognize bloggers whose writings and postings in the blogosphere give us a glimpse of this fruit in their lives.***
This project is not simply my own. There are many blogger and non-bloggers alike who have agreed to partner with me in recognizing and honoring those whose writings, postings and lives exemplify how God works in and through His people. When we recognize Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit resides within us. It is the Holy Spirit who produces fruit in our lives ~ but He has also given us the honor and the duty of recognizing the fruit in other believers.
See, my friend Lisa B. got it awhile ago and I thought she was totally deserving of it. And I remember thinking when she got it that I didn’t think I would ever be nominated for something like that.
Because you have to be nominated… it’s not one of those things that you get and then you get to give it to 5 of your bloggy friends…
NO! This one you actually have to take the time and email Trish and tell her why you think a blogger is deserving of the graphic…
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