no longer a slave

Romans 8:2
A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. (The Message)

Galatians 5:1 Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm [in this freedom], and don't become slaves again. (God's Word Translation)

As I got dressed today I was thinking about what I'd wear to church tomorrow. After all it is Easter Sunday. I have a friend who refuses to wear anything new to church on Easter. I'm a lot like that. I don't like how commercialized Easter has become. Easter doesn't require a new outfit! So I decided I'll probably wear my usual.....my jeans and a decent blouse. Then I started thinking about discovering the freedom Christ has given me. Now I'm not coming down on anyone if you wear a dress or dress up to go to church.........that is a personal decision; maybe even one that God has directed you to. But I have found that I can worship God just as well in jeans as I can in a dress, even more so if I'm led to move around a bit! I'm not trying to be controversial. I'm just talking about me. I no longer have to "get dressed up" to worship God. I love the freedom that brings me.

II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)

simply human

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

I received this in an email several weeks ago. It is very profound. As far as I can tell the author is Virginia Satir, an American psychotherapist and educator, 1916-1988. I did find it as "author unknown" but I don't want to take the time to do a lengthy search.

Pastor Paul sent an email several weeks ago with this:

"Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited again about the privilege of simply being human."
Excerpt from "You Gotta Keep Dancin" by Hansel

My little day miracle today was sitting in my new chair for over an hour and a half watching the Home and Garden channel with Rebekah. She was off work today and we both slept late and ended up in the living room together. Donald got me a wonderful chair and ottoman for my birthday. It seems we have torn all the chairs up in the house; our family is very hard on furniture. Or maybe it's because someone is home all the time and it gets used so much. When Billy spent the night with us several months back he thought he had broken our chair. I explained to him it was already broken, but I'm sure he got quite a shock when he tried to lean back in it! We finally moved it into our bedroom and moved another broken chair in it's place. The first broken chair went out with the trash yesterday and the second chair is back in our bedroom. It's a rocking chair that we bought when we were expecting Rebekah and the wicker bottom has broken. It simply cannot be thrown away as there are many memories of rocking our babies associated with that chair. I intend to have it fixed someday.

It is quite unusual to find me sitting anywhere that long during mid morning. There is always so much to do that I just don't sit down unless it's at the computer. And it's never for that long. So that is my little miracle that got me excited about enjoying life with my wonderful daughter today. Then she took me out for lunch and we ran an errand. Since I'm not hungry and Donald had pizza today at lunch can you guess who's not cooking dinner again??

I am totally excited about being human today!

Can you see me now??

I just received an email explaining how I can go to a Dallas Maverick basketball game for free~!
This is all I have to do.......


Want to attend the Mavs game for free? Paint your face and/or body and join the Party on the AT&T Plaza with Ali D and Ro Parrish starting 2 hours before every home game. The rowdiest, loudest, and proudest fans will receive free tickets to the game.

Now those of you who have watched basketball with me already know I can get pretty loud and rowdy and I'm already proud of my guys! It's worth a shot, don't you think??

a handfull of quietness

There is no one here but me and the dog. That is weird. With a large family you don't get much "alone" time. We are on spring break and the three youngest all have plans; Donald and the girls have work. They did come home for lunch. We had leftover brisket, potatoes, and salad. It was so good, even the second time around. Since I outdid myself last night I'm not cooking tonight. We have hot dogs and sandwich meat so we won't go hungry. Right now there's still leftovers, but if the boys get in and hit the refrigerator it will be gone by dinner. It's my spring break also.

I've missed so much church lately because of being sick. I am listening to one of Pastor Paul's messages from several weeks ago. It is awesome! It is about God's kingdom being now and not letting circumstances dictate our joy or lack of it. He says we either act or react. We need our eyes opened because God is bigger than our circumstances. He also said that complaining is being selfish. Ouch! We need to speak the truth. We are over comers; Christ has overcome the world! We are champions! We need to stop letting the things of the world run over us. God is in control. We need to choose to believe what He says. Our feelings change from moment to moment. We think we'll be happy if things change, but we won't, because our circumstances are dictating our happiness.

What an awesome message. It is one I'll need to listen to again and again.

Psalm 16:11 (God's Word)
You make the path of life known to me. Complete joy is in your presence. Pleasures are by your side forever.

I need to get clothes out of the dryer and finish the ironing. Then I'm either going to clean the living room carpet or watch a movie. I'm leaning toward the movie. Spring break is calling.

August Rush

I actually cooked dinner last night......meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. Then after the tornado warnings Ben and Hannah went to rent a movie and to get cokes from Taco D. None of the stores had what they wanted to rent so Ben ended up buying the last one at Hastings. If you haven't seen "August Rush" and want to see a good movie please consider it. It was awesome~! I love movies that end right~! It's one of those I could watch again immediately.

It's dark and cloudy and supposed to rain all day. It's a good day for sleeping in since we are on spring break, but Ben has an orthodontist appointment. He lost his splint and his jaw is hurting so we are going to get another one. We have a super orthodontist if anyone needs a recommendation.

I guess I need to get dressed so we can leave in a few minutes. I wonder if anyone would notice if I just wore my robe?

chili and cheese, plus a hot dog

I think I've had a relapse. I had two really wonderful days this week. Of course, I did too much because it has been about three weeks since I've felt good. Last night I went to church to help with our give away. It's tomorrow and it's like a big garage sale except everything is free! It's so much fun, but I think I'll have to miss it this year. I think the dust or something from last night got to me. My throat is all yucky and my asthma symptoms kicked in and I'm not a happy camper right now. I'm so ready to feel good.

We are on spring break next week. I have some things I really want to get done, but it will depend on how I'm feeling. I may have to take the week to rest and recuperate. I went to the store after enrichment classes and bought hot dogs for Donald to grill tonight. They are pretty good that way, especially if you cover them with chili and cheese. I even bought chips and ice cream to complete the meal. I'll probably chop the onions and let Donald do the rest. Hannah is spending the night with Danielle, Rebekah isn't home, Ben has dinner plans, I'm not sure about Bethany, but I'm pretty certain Daniel will be happy that we are having dinner.....even if it is just a hot dog.

After dinner I'm taking a bath and going to bed. The Mavs play tonight so I'll watch the game and maybe some NYPD Blue if I don't fall asleep too early. I'm starting out my weekend with a bang.

an awful lot of thought went into choosing this.......

This is the "romantic" birthday card Rebekah sent Donald to get for me. I laughed my head off and thought it was great. She told Donald he better be glad he chose me~! I suppose she didn't find it as funny as I did and thought most wives wouldn't either. LOL