Goodbye Christmas Break!

It is with a heavy heart that I will send my kids back to school tomorrow. They drive me crazy 80% of the time, but they are also so much fun and they fill the house with so much noise and life that when they are at school, it is just SO quiet around here. I am very blessed to work from my home office but some days the quiet can take it's toll.
We have tried to make the most of the time the kids had out of school. Marc took the entire week of Christmas off work. We did a lot of relaxing, playing video games, going out to eat, and a couple of little trips. The kid's favorite trip by far was the jaunt we made to Six Flags a few days after Christmas. We purchased annual passes as a family Christmas gift this year and the fine print told us that if we processed these passes in the park by December 28th then we would be upgraded to a Gold pass that would included an annual pass to Whitewater. We certainly weren't passing that up!
The day we went was perfect. I have never seen Six Flags so deserted. Several times we just stayed on rides and rode them a second time simply because there was no one else waiting. It was awesome. The boys (and Marc and I) are really looking forward to using these memberships a lot this coming summer! (Below is a picture from Six Flags Christmas in the Park...it was beautiful!)

Anyway, it is now time to dive back into school (for the kids and Marc) and schedules and sports, etc. it has been nice to have nowhere we "had" to be for the last two weeks other than optional fun holiday activities. However, I am so excited to get back to my weekly bible study group. I miss those women. We will start back on January 26th at my house and we are doing the Priscilla Shirer study titled "Jonah" this time (if anyone reading this is interested in joining us just let me know!)
As a church, we are starting 2015 doing a study called "40 Days In The Word" by Rick Warren. It has a daily reading plan that takes you through the bible in chronological order, which I love. I am looking forward to doing this as a whole church. We have done this several times now with other studies and it is such a neat thing to come together like that. This week of reading is taking us through the book of Job. Wow. When you haven't read something in a while, you forget how powerful it is. The book of Job is definitely powerful.  I remember when my best friend went through the lowest point in her life thus far, someone pointed her to this book of the bible. She credits this book for being what renewed her relationship with God. It is just such a powerful book. To read what Job went through, for no reason at all, how he handled it, etc. I would venture to say that you can't read through it without putting yourself in Job's shoes and asking yourself  "what would I do". Very humbling. If you haven't spent some time with Job in a while, go and visit with him again.


As a church family we covet your prayers right now for our Sr.  Pastor David Warren who has been diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. He is a fighter and has an amazing support system but I know he appreciates every prayer being said for him.

A lot of people make resolutions in a new year to better themselves physically, mentally, spiritually. If you are one of these people and you are looking for a church home, please let me know. I would love to invite you to come and visit our church anytime. I will be happy to come and get you and take you to lunch too.  Just let me know!

Happy New Year!

Well, here goes my 3rd or 4th attempt at blogging. I have had a few blogs for family since 2005 when my oldest son was born. Those blogs were started with the main goal of sharing pictures and updates about the kids.
For the last 6 months or so I have felt an urging to start blogging again in an effort to share my faith, and my daily struggles in my walk with God. I was blessed to be able to join a mission team from my church that traveled to Mexico 6 months ago. On this trip our group of 36 (30 teenagers and 6 adults) built two homes for families in need. What an amazing experience. But for God. Since returning home all I have wanted to do was continue mission work. I think almost everyone feels this way after being a part of something so awesome. But what has finally registered for me is that there is plenty to be done right here at home. (That doesn't mean I will not be on that plane again this June because I will be!) But in the meantime, I have been looking for ways to reach more people right here at home. I am so thankful to be a part of a wonderful church that supports any ideas we come up with to do this. Our pastors recently started a Sunday Serve where our congregation is going into the community and completing mission projects around Opelika and Auburn. We are already seeing God work in the lives of some of those that have been served. Praise God! Myself and some others also started a Monday night women's bible study that meets in my living room weekly. My church provides childcare for free during the time we meet. There are no words to describe what a blessing this has been. I had previously been a part of a group that met on Thursday nights but had not been able to attend in months because of my boy's sports schedules (we always have practice Tuesday's and Thursday's). I missed that closeness that comes when a group of women join together to study God's word. It is amazing how close you become to these women that you do life with.
This leads me to the meaning behind the name of this blog. I felt the urging to start this in home bible study long before I approached the appropriate person at church about it. Just like Jonah, God was calling me to step out and do something that I really didn't feel prepared to do (or want to do right then) and I ran! I am Jonah. Aren't we all?  I believe Jonah is one of my favorite people in the bible because I so clearly relate to him. Not only did he run from what God wanted him to do but once he did it, and God forgave the people of Nineveh, Jonah was mad! Why do they get to be forgiven when they have been so bad??? Haven't we all felt that way before? It may not be pretty but it is usually true.
My walk with God is the most important thing in my life but it is also the hardest. Because I am human. And I am a highly emotional person with a type AAA personality (that would be triple A for anyone wondering). I mess up ALL the time. I am sarcastic. With a big mouth.
So I hope to share here about my family and all of the funny things my kids and dogs get into, but mostly about my walk with Him. And maybe someone somewhere will read something that I have to say and it will help them. And that might be just as great as that trip to Mexico.

2014 was a year of much growth for me personally but our family suffered a lot of loss. I pray that 2015 will be a year of blessings for all of those that I love and that I will serve the Lord in the ways that He leads me.