Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Blessings...and Family

We are getting ready to have family overload this weekend. Hubby's parents are divorced and have been very a long time, so we usually have 2 dinners with his family. So tomorrow at 8am we are starting off our holiday by serving. Hubby, myself and teenage son are going to a very low income, high crime rate area of town to help prepare Thanksgiving dinner for anyone who shows up. Just to let you know how far out of our comfort zone we will be, we have to call the person who is in charge when we get there so he can unlock the door for us. They have to keep it locked at all times because of the surrounding neighborhood being unsafe. But I know that God will keep us safe and if He decides it is our time, at least we will be doing His work. After we are finished, we will attend an evening meal at Hubby's Mom's house. All of his siblings and extended family will be there. It will be fun and nice to visit. On Saturday we are hosting a dinner at our subdivision clubhouse for his Dad and siblings again. Not sure who all will be there, but it will be a good time. Hubby's Dad suffered a stroke on May 1st and has lost most of his sight since then. He can see some things but not well. We are just glad he is here and able to be with us. Sunday we are traveling to my Mom's house after church. She likes to go to the cemetery to put the flowers on Dad's grave with my sister and I. It has been a long standing tradition that my sister and I give to our Dad each Christmas a box of chocolate covered cherries. We still do that, but now we have to put them on his grave. Believe it or not, when we go back in the spring, usually before Easter, the boxes are still there! We have had beautiful flowers stolen from his grave, but no one ever touches those cherries..I don't get it, but I'm glad they don't. I wont see my kids because youngest son and new bride drove to New Jersey today to be with her family. (They will be with us for Christmas, you know the routine!) Oldest son will be with his Dad, but I am hoping he joins us on Saturday.
I am thinking by Sunday night I will be feeling very blessed. I love being with family, and as ours grows, it is just the best! I also know that helping with the dinner on Thursday will be a tremendous blessing, not nearly as much to those being served as those who are serving. God works like that alot and it is wonderful. So I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you get to spend time with family and people you love. If you have some time and want to serve, Keystone and 30th, 8am!!!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Birthday Day....

Tomorrow I will be a 49 year old...how in the world did I get to be so old??? It seems just like yesterday I was 20 years old, having my first son. Now that first son will be 29 next year. I don't really feel old, but I still have some "old" issues that are creeping up on me. I am not as healthy as I would like to be, so that is my goal before I turn 50. I need to lose some weight and get healthier. I have had friends my age who have had major health issues and I would like to avoid those. So for my prayer warriors out there, and you know who you are...please pray for the next year that I am able to stick to my plan.
I didn't think it would bother me to have this birthday, but it is very much so. I wonder if I have done all the things I should have up to this point? I know that there are things I wished I had not done, but God has always had His hand in this life of mine and I need to acknowledge that He is indeed in control. There are things I would still like to do, places I would like to visit. I have not been on the east coast and would love to visit New England in the fall. I want to have more grandkids, of which I have no control over!! I want to go camping with my hubby, I want to spend as much time as possible with my Mom, I want to go on a missions trip somewhere..and I want my personal relationship with God to grow. I should write a list of the things I want to do before I retire and the ones I want to do afterwards..LOL Since I have a few years more to work, the list of what to do before I retire should be very long...
Maybe when I wake up tomorrow I will have a different feeling of being a 49 year old woman. Of course I will wake with damp jammies from the night sweats, puffy eyes and really bad bed hair, but I will wake with the knowledge that God loves me, hubby and kids love me and I can even love this 49 year me!!!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Struggling...Church...Life

I am in a very strange mood. I love my church and enjoy being involved. But I am struggling with some issues. For some reason I am not interested in attending Sunday School classes (known as ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) at Hazel Dell. I really enjoy the lessons and the teacher, but for some reason I am not interested in attending. I am not sure why this is and I feel bad for not going. I love going to worship service and don't want to miss that. Sometimes it is just life in general that gets in the way of ABF. Our class meets at 8:15am and it is very difficult to get up and going that early. Seems like every weekend we have been busy with family. This weekend we picked up our granddaughter, who is 2 1/2, on Friday night. We spent Saturday playing with dolls and coloring books and watching Handy Mandy!! It was so much fun. Then we took her home and attended a great program and dinner at their church. Which meant we also got to spend some time with new grandson, who is almost 5 weeks!!! He has grown so much and Duane and I both just love holding and cuddling him. So that meant we were late getting home Saturday night. So when the clock said 6:30am this morning, we both turned over to snuggle!!! So this week I am going to have to really pray about this situation. I need to attend, but I WANT to WANT to go...does that make sense? We are very active in our church and have made some great friends. But this issue is really bugging me. I will keep you all posted as to what becomes of this issue. But if you have some extra space for a prayer for me, just pray that I can get back into being interested in our ABF class.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Holidays....

Sometimes I wish everyone would do thinks like I do and think like I do!!! I know that sounds vain, but it would sure make my world easier to get along with... Like Thanksgiving..that is my husband's FAVORITE holiday. He loves being with family, eating turkey and pecan pie. He is very much into football and loves to watch the games. My family does not do the big dinner thing so much anymore. In fact, both of my boys will be with new daughter in law in New Jersey with her family. We will be at his Mom's house on Thanksgiving Day evening. We are spending the morning at a church on the south side serving dinners to people who have no where to go or food to eat. So I have invited Duane's Dad and step Mom to dinner on Saturday evening, along with his sisters. Step Daughter and family will be there also. But I would really like my Mom to come and spend the weekend with us. She is alone alot and I don't get over there often enough. So I thought it would be fun to have her come stay with us. I don't think she will though because we are having "company" on Saturday and she does not want to intrude? I don't get that. I know having blended families are hard, but how do you get to know them more unless you spend time with them. And besides, the "company" will only be there from 3pm on Saturday until about 9pm that evening. We would still have all day on Friday and Sunday to do things. I am going to have to pray about this alot. I don't want one part of my family keeping another part away. Whatever happened to The Waltons???