Red, White & Blue ... Strawberry Shortcake

The Fourth of July is one of my FAVORITE holidays & I decided to make a YUMMY dessert to share with my family this year !! It was super easy & didn't take much time AT ALL !!  It was also really good, if I do say so myself !! ;)

The recipe is here :

Red, White & Blue Strawberry Shortcake

And this is what it looked like before we gobbled it up :

The Judahs In Our Lives ...

This afternoon at church, the pastor spoke on the Judahs in our lives & it really hit home for me (we're studying the Bad Boys of the Bible).  If you don't know the story of Judah, you should read it in the book of Genesis.  He sold his brother, Joseph, into slavery, he had sex with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who was disguised as a prostitute & then became pregnant with twins .. Judah should have had the worst of the worst things happen to him, but they didn't ... Why ?  Well, I will explain to you in a moment.

Amazingly, Judah turned his life around & he changed his life ! Why ? Because of GRACE !!! Joseph showed him grace, even though Judah had sold him into slavery.  He forgave him & took the family back into his good graces.  Tamar could have exposed Judah for his sins, but instead showed him grace by quietly letting him know he was the one who had gotten her pregnant ... Jacob's (Judah's father's) blessing of Judah, in Genesis 49:8-12, includes a passage that is traditionally understood by Christians to mean that Judah's descendants would rule over the land of Israel, culminating with Jesus.  And Judah was GRATEFUL for all of this grace shown to him !! He appreciated it & learned from it !!

So, what exactly did Judah ever do to deserve all this grace ? Absolutely nothing ! He didn't have to.  Jesus died for all of us & we all deserve God's grace & blessing upon our life. We all have Judah's in our lives.  We know people who may not be living the best life in our eyes or are the meanest, most hateful person to ever walk the Earth yet things always seem to go right for them.  If we just change the way we look at each & every person as deserving of God's grace & love, just as we are, and show grace to each & every person we come into contact with, just imagine how the world would begin to change !! 

This message really made me think about my life & what I can do differently and how I can treat people differently in the future.  I hope maybe some of you will get at least a little something out of it as well.

The Altar

I'm at the end of myself, I just dropped out of the running
I don't recall when I last pulled the shades and said "here comes the sun, here comes the new day"
Someone remind me again that joy might show up on occasion
I'm sitting here with my hands on my head, and my eyes on the ground, wondering if I'll be found by You

Will you make me new? Will you take what's left of me?
I guarantee that it won't be a fair trade.
Will you set me free from what's keeping me afraid?
I know I've prayed it all before, but I'm back on the altar

I don't believe what they say about one foot in front of the other
If my life was a map, you'd see every last step just circling around, still lost, never found by You

So will you make me new? Will you take what's left of me?
I guarantee that it won't be a fair trade.
Will you set me free from what's keeping me afraid?
I know I've prayed it all before, but I'm back on the altar

Maybe last year I'd have made empty promises
Maybe last month I'd have tried to pull strings
But I don't have one single chip left to bargain with
The only thing left is me needing You to make me new

Will you take what's left of me?
I guarantee that it won't be a fair trade
Will you set me free from what's keeping me afraid?
I know I've prayed it all before
But I'm back
On the altar

God, If You Want Me To Carry It, I Will ...

God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it & it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will ...

 

I found this today ... And it sums up my life right now in a nut shell ... I feel like I am carrying an awfully heavy, no good load, but if God wants me to carry it, then I will !!

For the most part, I try to live a good life.  I have a wonderful husband, 5 beautiful & healthy kids and a very select few good friends.  I try to bless people when I can with positivity & keep my mouth shut when I can't ... Sometimes, I fail miserably at this !! I'm only human, after all ...

There are people in my life that I wish were not there... I can't do anything to change that.  So, instead, I pray that God gives me the wisdom & the strength to deal with them in the best way I can & to ignore the things that they do that cause me hurt.  I pray that God shows me the positive in why I am forced to deal with them & helps me over look the bad.

I have had a tendency lately to have the attitude that if people ignore me & the things that happen in my life, then I am going to ignore them.  God has laid it upon my heart that that is the wrong attitude to have ... Just because people do me wrong, doesn't mean that I should return the favor.  Instead, I should do the exact opposite.  I am slowly & steadily trusting in God and realizing that He is, as always, right and I feel much better for it ... So, I began to do that just today.  I make the effort when I really would rather just sit & sulk and gripe to myself about the person.  I pray for them instead !  I don't want to just "get over it" anymore.  Instead, I want to trust God to get me through it.

It is amazing what a new attitude can do !!

Matthew 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you."

Thankful ...

Be thankful that you don't already have 
everything that you desire.
If you did, what would there be
to look forward to?

Be thankful when you know you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. 
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
Because they give you opportunity for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes,
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
Because it means you've made an effort.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they will become your blessings.

It's The Little Things ..

I haven't written in quite some time, and I have a MILLION other things I need to be doing right now ... filling orders, laundry, MT coursework ... And as my head is STILL pounding over a week after my migraine began, I can STILL find joy in the little things ....

As a stay-at-home mom, I am blessed as well as cursed.  It is a complete joy & blessing to be able to stay home with my children & watch them grow & be there for them ... But it can also be frustrating, annoying & sometimes even depressing ... Today, however, the joy of it completely overwhelmed me ...

I love to hear the giggles down the hall as Maddi & Dylan play games ... I listen to the words they say & laugh to myself sometimes at the things their sweet little minds imagine ... After I put the kids to bed tonight, Dylan came toddling down the hall about 30 minutes later & cried, "Hold me, Mamma!"  My first instinct was to tell him to go back to bed, but instead, I picked him up & in literally seconds he was asleep.  I held him for about another 30 minutes & just pondered how blessed I am.  I have BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY, HAPPY children.  Dylan told me probably 10 times today that he, "loved me this much in the world."  I can't even tell you how it melts my heart to hear that.  I could be absolutely livid & if that kid came up to me & said that, the anger would just fade away ...

Maddi starts Kindergarten in August ( I absolutely CANNOT believe this !!) & she is SO stinkin' smart !!  She's ready to go.  She asked me if she was going to Kindergarten in five days yesterday.  LOL  I said, "NO !! It's months & months away !!"  More to appease myself than to answer her question.  She will be fine.  I will be a blubbering mess .....

And my oldest is going to COLLEGE this fall ... I am getting old ... My babies are growing up way too fast, and it seems like just yesterday that Brandon was Dylan's age.  I mix their names up all the time (a Young trait).  When all 5 of my children are in the same house, it is total chaos.  But I LOVE it !! Nothing makes me happier than to have all of my family in the same place, at the same time.  The times that that happens are few & far between.

But I just needed to take a minute, a break, whatever you want to call it and tell my children how much they mean to me.  Time just goes so fast & before you know it, it's over.  No matter how old they get, no matter how far away from me they go, I will always see them as my babies !!  I love you, Brandon, Nicole, Shaelyn, Madalyn & Dylan & you will ALWAYS be my babies, no matter how old you get !!!!!

Seven tattoos & Counting ...

I have seven tattoos, as I'm sure most of you already know.  I have pictures of them posted on my facebook.  They all mean something very special to me.

The first tattoo I got when I was in my early 20's, a sun on the right side of my abdomen.

I love suns & I got this one with green eyes, like me.  It reminds me that I can shine as brightly as I want to.  No one can put out my shine, except me.

My second tattoo was on my lower back.  Yes, I have a tramp stamp.

I <3 Butterflies !! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them !!  Anyone who knows you can attest to that.  They are so free, so beautiful.  They remind me that appearances can be deceiving & that it is what is inside that matters.  Butterflies don't start out being beautiful ...

My third tattoo is on the back of my neck.

Green is my favorite color & I have always been partial to Shamrocks, even though I don't believe in all that "luck" stuff.  I believe that our lives are pre-determined by God & that He already knows the path that we are going to take in life.  However, Shamrocks or "4-Leaf Clovers," as I grew up calling them, remind me of my childhood.  I would spend HOURS searching for the elusive 4-Leaf Clover.  The happiness & the carefree attitude of a child is something that we shouldn't forget when we become adults.  And, of course, my hubby is Irish ;D

Fourth, came the tattoo on the top of my foot.  I went with my BFF, Angie, to get this one.  It was INCREDIBLY painful, but only because the nimrod doing the tattoo kept talking, and every time he would talk, he would lift the needle.  GRRR .... Talk about frustrating !!

Again, in green, and with my Butterfly theme.  This one is a little more "girly."  And I LOVE the Japanese Kanki which states simply "Butterfly."

For tattoo number five, I went with two of my best girlfriends & we all got the same tattoo just above our left ankle.

The butterfly design matches a dragonfly design on my BFF, Anastasia's foot.  The writing above says "Best" & the one underneath says "Friends."  Angie & I are the only ones who still have this tattoo, as Anastasia added to hers:

My father passed away on February 2, 2009 & I immediately wanted to get a tattoo in his memory.  Thus, tattoo #6 came about. 

This one is on my left forearm.  It incorporates the faith in God that my father & I have, my love of butterflies & the belief that my father is now free from all the pain he was in and is free like a butterfly.

My seventh tattoo is on my right wrist.  It is a simple black butterfly.  Angie & I both love butterflies & wanted to get matching tattoos to signify our friendship, so that is what we chose.  We are going to add to it & tweak it a little bit because we weren't entirely happy with the outcome.

Now, I'm ready for my 8th tattoo ... I want this tattoo to represent my life as a mother ~ the most important job I have & will ever have.  It will probably go either on one of my shoulder blades OR on one of my sides, under my heart.  It will look something like this:

My sister, Robyn, is working on a better sketch than this.  Brandon's name will be down the middle.  Then, starting on the right side (if you're facing my body, it will be on the left):  Nicole on the right bottom wing, Shae on the top right wing, Madalyn on the left top wing, and Dylan on the bottom left wing.  Then, @ the bottom of where Brandon will be, I might put my initials & Tim's initials.

I also want to get a small tattoo in memory of my cousin, Jana, who died from breast cancer with her initials in the butterfly somewhere:

Any thoughts or ideas ??