Retreat?....with NO Sleep? YES!

Is if possible to fill renewed, refreshed and ready to tackle your life and family after a weekend of very little sleep? Absolutely!!! That is what I had to the wonderful opportunity to experience this past weekend. Our church went on a ladies retreat to Flat Rock, NC. It was cold and beautiful! One might have thought that because our attendance was down from years past, that it may not be the same kind of success! Wrong, the Lord said that where two or three are gathered in MY name, their shall HE BE! We had a total of 26 women ranging from the 'way past retirement age' to the early 20's. Our particular Sunday School Class sent 11 of the 26 women. We had so many that wanted to attend, but were unable. Larry and I are very blessed to have a church with a large group of friends in our age group and in the same stage of life!

To back up a little...I was unsure that I was going to be able to go this year due to what I thought were circumstances that I had control over. But as the retreat drew closer, the Lord started talking to me about some issues that I need guidance through, issues of surrender and friendships that needed mending. I won't go into detail, but I grew excited about what God was going to do in my life. The more I made the effort to be at retreat, the more the DEVIL tried to put up roadblocks in my way. I realized that this was what was happening and was more determined than ever to attend!! Friday before I was to leave, was terrible! I can't go into detail, but thanks Mom for being there when I needed a shoulder to cry on! After such a bad morning, it was tempting to forget the whole thing! I was determined to go and see why the devil was fighting so hard to keep me home.

I can only say that I am so glad the the devil was once again defeated! Not only did I get wonderful fellowship with great friends, mentored by a Godly speaker, God MET with ME! I am so thankful for God's faithfulness. Have you ever had times when reflecting on your spiritual walk with God you have no complaints? Things going along well, faithful prayer life, daily Bible reading, growing closer to God...and wham! God opens your eyes! He showed me many areas where I needed to ask forgiveness, surrender to Him, and express my love to Him in a more real way! A CRAZY in Love with Christ. Remember when dating and your every thought revolved around your "friend". That is what I want in a relationship with Jesus! I want my family, friends, coworkers to "smell" the sweet aroma of Jesus when I am around. This is not something that I can create on my own, but His Spirit through me!

We had a great time staying up late, laughing at nothing, playing games, eating pickels, and more carbs than I'd ever admit! I will try to post some pictures soon of my weekend! It has been great reading all your blogs! I am greatly encourged by your lives! Keep up the good work...for seeing His face will be worth everything!

A Day in Review....

Hello friends and family...

Today I hit the floor running~ ok not literally but, I should have. We had a very full day of school with Steven...a little side track here. It was one of those rare days that Steven and I were not communicating very well. He was being rather lazy with his paper work and reading. We read, reread, and reread the same stories over and over again. I'm on 'My pet Pete' overload. He normally is a very good student with very few problems, I quess today was one of his off days. We finnally made it through school only to discover that we were at bare bottom of the pantry. I do have things in the freezer, but Larry has his completed cabinet stacked on top of the freezer. And dare I move them...so we loaded up and went to the Big Arch! McDonalds...ugh~ The boys enjoyed the indoor playground and so did I until....Peyton climbed to the top and I had to climb in after him. Here is a mental picture for your ammusement. The playarea was full of nice mothers and grandparents with their children. Here I am in old clothes, a shirt and the key thing, a very long jean skirt. Remember it wasn't my plan to do my shopping at lunch time! But rather later AFTER my cleaning was complete~ anyway here I am trying to climb up playground equipment with my older two sons laughing at me and pulling Peyton along only to make my journey longer. They had been teasing me that I would climb the equipment, and I said NO~ After reaching Peyton, he decided he would chase Steven to the slide and therefore my climbing was in vain. So now I have to backtrack down the spiral stairway with children rushing up to the top! It gave me a new appreciation of the phrase, "Excuse me, Pardon me!" I decided it was time for us to leave. I then drug 3 kids into ALDI and Walmart to get my needed items. Oh, when getting Peyton out of the van at Walmart, my skirt almost fell off. More humiliation! My boys have a great sense of humor thanks to my stupidity! We rushed home to try to get Peyton his nap and a birthday cake for Larry made. His birthday was last week and we were gone. The boys wanted to do something special for dad! Larry did get home early since he had a meeting at the house at six. Peyton never got his nap. The cake did get made. UMMM~ The meeting lasted til 8pm so supper was very late! For those of you who don't know me very well...I live by a schedule. Today I did not 'live'! Larry is now in the garage working on his cabinets and the boys are asleep....I think! I haven't heard the Odessey CD turned on again, so that's a good sign.

I have mention that Larry is building cabinets...He recently won a bid for North Greenville University Sports Center to build their cabinets. This has been a great blessing! He is hoping to start doing more of the same on the side and see where the Lord leads. He loves the computer field, but He does fantastic wood work. He has built some furniture and does GREAT! I have a very talented husband. I am very blessed to be married to Larry! When he finished the cabinets, I'll try to post some pictures.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Some of you write such great blogs..I start to feel inferior...but then I reread them! Ha! This an attempt to make me feel better and I do!

I will be going on a Ladies Retreat with church this weekend...please pray for Larry and the boys....they won't even know I'm gone. They already have plans for Friday night and all day Saturday, Church Sunday morning and I return around 1pm!

Hope you all have a great weekend in worship!

THANK YOU

A BIG Thank you for all that have stopped by to see me...sorry you missed the warm cookies and milk!

I'll try to see if I can add a few more pictures...ENJOY!

Hello fellow bloggers...I am very unsure of how all this works, but I'm very excited about it! One bad thing that I have already discovered is....my grammer! Tara, please do not read what I write....only how I would say it if I were in you living room talking with you!

Thank you all in advance for listening to my ramblings of nothing. You will soon discover that I have a rather busy, hectic life that I love dearly!

As I am writing my fist post, the house is unusually quiet. Peyton is down for the night and Larry has taken Steven and Carson to Little League. Steven is the cutest player on the field! I'm not sure if he'll ever make it to the pros, but he sure looks good trying! Carson loves going to be the bat boy! (and to get a very moments alone with Dad!) I would love to write more and post more pictures, but I think I'm going to stop and enjoy blessed quietness!

Watch for more....