Stepping Stones

Ever wake up one day and find out you have a new "follower" on your blog? If you're like me, it's an exciting feeling, like I have a new friend. Someone who connected with me on something I wrote!

But do you ever stop and wonder how they got to your site to begin with? Here is my theory.

We post our blogs and at the bottom are labels for our post. We try and sum up what we wrote and label it because if there are people out there searching for something, we hope God directs them to our site to read what we wrote.

Another way people arrive is when we receive blog awards from fellow bloggers. Usually they come from people that are followers of ours, and enjoy the things we write about from day to day. So when we nominate them for a blog award or we receive said award, people click on the links provided and follow us.

I also believe people click on the titles of blogs that sound the most interesting. There are quite a few really good ones out there. Check them out when you can. We love to hear from you!

The other way I believe people get here is from other bloggers. They read the comments from their favorite blogger or they see who their blogger is following usually from a blogger favorite list on peoples pages and they use these as "stepping stones" to find us.

My favorite way for people to find me is through God's prompting. I believe He can use this forum to bring people to him, help hurting souls find comfort and joy again, and create a body of believers out of the Internet.

Either way you have arrived here. I hope you enjoy it, and decide to "follow" and stay for awhile. Grab yourself your favorite beverage of choice, mine being ice water in the early evening, since I am giving up soda and fast food for my own personal health right now and enjoy yourself while you are here.

I would also encourage you to post comments so I can know how this post has touched you or how you related to it. Today for example, how did you find yourself here in the first place? Can't wait to hear all about it, and so do the bloggers that follow as well!

Hubby Has Launched a New Venture

I just wanted to share with all of you the great news. My hubby, Steve, has decided to join the blogging community with his own blog site. I was sharing with him how incredible it can be to find people in the middle of their lives going through the exact same thing as yourself, and you suddenly find yourself not so alone anymore.

If you can, stop by and say Hi! I am sure you will find his insight very down to earth and true to life. His blog site is called Gotta Have Faith.

We are preparing for the invasion today of teens from all over our city. Our daughter, Cait, is leaving for Rhode Island on Tuesday, so we are giving her a farewell party with her highschool friends. She will return in two weeks after visiting her real dad there!

Please pray for her trip to Rhode Island that it will be safe and uneventful as she is navigating a new airport in her lay overs.

Kids Have Super Powers!

I remember the child-like innocence in growing up. The simple life. People said it, you believed it.

No second guesses.

No cause for concern.

No asking, "but why?"

We, as children, took things literally until someone or something came along to prove them wrong.

I grew up in the land of make believe.

I didn't have an imaginary friend or even an imaginary world.

I did have an IMAGINATION.

Something lacking in today's society.

Today, our children live in a world where everything is stimulated all at the same time, by technology. TV, Movies, DVDs, CDs, Ipods, Gameboys, Wii's, Playstations, Xbox, Nintendo's, Cell Phones and Computers.

Our kids today aren't being challenged like we were in growing up. Here is what I remember.

I had super powers!

Did you?

I had them until I tried them and found out, I didn't.

But I believed I did.

I believed if you jumped off the roof, with your umbrella, wide open, that you would become like Mary Poppins. You would either fly away, or simply float to the ground.

Gravity proved me wrong there. I fell like a brick! Yes I tried it. That is how I learned that umbrellas don't work for anyone else but Mary Poppins.

I guess it was her 'super power device!'

I also believed that if you tried hard enough, focused intently enough, and squeezed your eyes tight enough, you could make things happen!

You could bend spoons.

Read peoples minds.

Make things move.

Hear peoples thoughts.

But it never happened. Oh I tried long enough and hard enough, but it was a reality check for me. No super powers there.

For now, just Hiro in Heroes has that ability to stop time, Matt can read minds and make things happen. Yes, I watch Heroes!

From the time we watched The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, we believed we had super strength and super speed.

Remember how you used to try running super slow but over exaggerated, and made the 'bionic sound?' We tried to lift mom or dads car in the driveway or pick up a large boulder, along with the sound, but nothing happened. Nothing moved.

I believed that if you strapped on your roller skates and held onto a plastic bag in the wind, you'd go places. Guess I was too heavy or it simply wasn't windy enough, we didn't move.

I also believed if you tied a towel or sheet around your neck and ran really hard with your arms held out in front of you, you would experience lift off and begin flying.

Nope, still nothing happened.

Reality, again!

My hubby told me that growing up, he believed that if he put his fishing pole into his swimming pool, if he was patient enough, he could catch a fish.

He got lots of practice casting but no bites.

Kids experience life, because we don't question reality.

We experience reality, when we risk trial and error, and things don't work out. We may even try again.

God's faith is a lot like that. It reminds me of the line from the movie, The Santa Clause with Tim Allen. Seeing isn't believing, it's believing when we don't see. Everyone can experience faith in its purest form.

Just ask the next child you meet, what their super powers are? It starts out that simple!

Thursday Thoughts

I just wanted to keep things light this week, with gravity and all keeping so many of us believers down and with much weight around our necks.

So I am going to leave this post on the short and sweet side with something a bit funny that showed up in my email this morning. May all of you have God's blessings rain down on you today and everyday!

Little John the Baptist

Matt. 18:4-5
"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And who ever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. "

Johnny's Mother looked out the window and noticed Him "playing church" with their cat.

He had the cat sitting quietly and he was preaching to it.

She smiled and went about her work.

A while later she heard loud meowing and hissing, and ran back to the open window to see Johnny baptizing the cat in a tub of water.

She called out, "Johnny, stop that! The cat is afraid of water!"

Johnny looked up at her and said, "He should have thought about that before he joined my church."


Have a wonderful weekend!

Sounds of Aging

Yes, I realize we live in a world where we will all eventually grow older. There comes a time however, when we wake up one morning look in the mirror and it isn't the same person staring back at us any longer.

You begin to wonder, do we seriously age overnight or was last night a really bad night and these are the effects of that night?

These are the things I have begun to notice over the last year. Let's start at the top since that is what you seem to notice first because at some point we are always looking in the mirror.

The first thing was the added changes to my face in the form of age spots. Where did they ever get a name like that? How about sun spots or something a little less 'aging?"

I guess those years of spending literally all day at the beach were now finally playing a mean game of catch up. I spent entire summers, from sunrise to sunset hanging at the beach. I mean, it's where I grew up.

So the process begins of trying to hide them with make up only it really doesn't do the justice, so you try and wear your hair a bit differently. I guess wearing it hanging in your face only works in teens anymore, not quite becoming on a 45 year old.

Then I notice hair loss and dryness. I would blow dry my hair and suddenly I was shedding more hair than my cat. My hubby asked for any possible left overs of mine to glue on his. Yeah sure, like that will really help me.

So I begin to buy all this anti aging and breakage hair products to see if I can begin to keep more than I am losing. I mean bald men are quite hot in my opinion but bald women, NOT!

I notice I don't have the energy level I once did either and can't eat certain foods.

I make what my hubby and I have coined the old people noise when we attempt to put on our socks. I have discovered if you put your socks on before your pants, it's a lot easier.

We tried putting in a brick planter for our roses this weekend and realized sometimes if you keep your body in a hunched over position for too long, it does want to stick that way. I guess my parents were right, it just wasn't your silly face but you body that would eventually stay that way.

So we huff it off to the spa. We installed it for moments like this. Now we just need someone to come get us out. Life sure does have its moments as you grow old and who said it was fun! Hey, it's almost 8am, it's time for bed soon! We can't stay up like all those party days any more either. At least for now, I have someone to help me up as long as he can get up.

I Triple Dog Dare You!

Yeah I love that line from the movie, "A Christmas Story." As a matter of fact, I can relate to a lot in the movie. Every time Ralphie gets in trouble and has to wait for his dad to come home, oh man, my heart beats faster in my chest.

I remember that twilight hour when the sun was setting and the brilliant royal colors were settling in the sky, it wasn't sunset for me. It was a clock, ticking down the minutes ever so loudly, that I could hear them and begin to count down the minutes til I heard my dad's car pull into the garage.

So glad I have grown and no longer live in that kind of fear and dread. However, yesterday was a day of reflection. Perhaps because I have my nephew once again for another week, and the disappointment that when I gave him homework to do over the weekend, he didn't due it, until last night, after a lengthy phone call to his dad.

I started to remember how it was growing up in a home where our parents worked all the time, it seemed and we were left to our own devices.

We got along for the most part, and had our really bad arguments and fights. If only mom and dad could see there stuff we used to do.

So here it comes in the form of my blog, kinda of spring cleaning of the mind. The things I did to my brother.

We grew up having dogs of all sorts, most of the names have lost escaped my over crowded memory, but I do remember we feed them virtually anything that was cheap and on sale at the grocery store.

This is before the days of stores like Petsmart and Petco, although, I still buy my pet food at Target cause it's cheaper there and I hate making extra trips.

So it was curiosity that got the best of me most days. There were these things called Gaines Burgers for your dog. They were of the consistency of playdoh, and looked like something you could make from a Playdoh factory, that came in the shape of the hamburger. They smelled sweet but I wasn't about to eat it.

You can guess where this is going huh? So I dared my brother to try it. His name is Michael and I guess I figured it was a close to Mikey as it could get, so I dared him to try it. He didn't have to eat the whole thing, just a taste. Then I would know what it tasted like.

I could tell after he bit into the burger and abruptly spit it out, that it wasn't at all like we thought.

There came other things like Doggie Donuts, multi-colored looking biscuits in the shape of a donut. Yes, I got "Mikey" to try it and he actually liked to eat these. He said they had the flavor of cookies but a lot more crunchier.

One day I found him hiding under our kitchen sink, eating from a box of Doggie Donuts. I guess I wasn't supposed to see it, so off we went on one of our wild fights. Me, running away, laughing and pointing at him, calling him a dog in hiding, and him, red face and murder looming in his mind.

Ah, fun memories. I just had to share them with you. Now my conscience can rest in silence. For those of you just dying to know, I never ate the Doggie Donuts or Gaines Burgers. I didn't have to.

I had Mikey.

All it took was a dare! In some cases, a triple dog dare!

Out of the Loop!

Oh man, it feels like ages since I wrote my last blog. So many of you have been kind enough to email me and ask if I remain among the living! I am proud to say this post isn't coming from the afterlife. I am still around. I feel like I am among the dead.

Ever have one of those weeks wear everyone relies on you so heavily that at the end of the day, you literally can't see straight?

Here's the week in a short recap.

Hubby is back in Lost Wages, also known to most as Las Vegas for another week since his local project here was delayed for another week. See the pattern? What was suppose to be a week turned into three at the close of business hopefully today.

We've been at odds with each other because while he is at work, the burden of running and raising the household falls heavily on my shoulders even though I am married. At least I believe I am, although it doesn't feel like it. My partner and best friend is gone missing. Anyone see him lately on the back of milk carton? Do they even make milk cartons anymore? Does it matter since most of us buy milk by the plastic gallon jug and even if pictures were still posted, we wouldn't see them anyway.

I mean who visits the post office anymore? You get your stamps through the ATM machine or at the grocery store cashier or customer service counter, so you wouldn't see his picture on the wall there either. Oh wait that is just for known criminals. So I guess you wouldn't see him there either.

The kids have been off officially as of this week, and you can only guess what the latest question is. Yup, there's nothing to do, what can we do? I tell them that I have a ton of weeds just begging for some much needed attention and love in my sub-backyard. It's a fenced in area behind my nice, pretty backyard, that no one can see. Unless you look over the fence from the main street. The response to go weeding isn't what they wanted to hear, so off they go to inquire someplace else.

My nephew was dropped off by his dad, I mentioned him in earlier posts, because his father doesn't know what else to do with him. In his fathers words, "A world class failure if there ever was one."

Nice guy huh? My nephew is failing every class in his virtual home school class in lieu of video games. If his dad takes them away, he simply finds another source. via the Internet. Since he is an expert as masking his intentions, he can switch his computer screens faster than you can blink, and he is "back at school". The trained eye simply looks at the bottom tabs to spot the latest in gaming software going.

So it's been my duty, to try and get him caught up. Never mind that my kids finished early thanks to hard work and dedication (pushing by mom) to get to their reward of an early summer vacation. Now it's become my job to babysit him side by side, watching everything he does and try to get him current in his work.

Umm, doesn't his dad remember that my hubby and I did this last year, cramming 3 months of school into three week?

So hence the reason for my disappearance. I have stepped on the roller coaster of life once more, and go for the ride I am simply dreading. It's not like that funny feeling of excitement you get when you know at the end of the ride, you're going to say, "Wow, that was fun, let's go again!" Nope, mine is "I think I am going to be sick." as I place my hand over my mouth and raise my other hand. The universal sign for I am done, I want to get off.

Funny thing is that this week, the ride operator has left the building, I am stuck on the roller coaster for the millionth time, and the hill is coming back up again.

Thanks again for the many compliments and well wishes I received. I will be back more, if not to try and make you smile and laugh for the day, but at least so you know I am still alive and kicking.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

What A Way To End The Week

Oh what a week this has been!

Do you ever have a funny feeling that you are under attack from the enemy not just from the front but from every conceivable angle imaginable?

This has physically worn me out and it's funny because shortly after my latest post, literally in my life, all hell seemed to have broken out.

It seems when you follow what God asks you to do, the enemy pays you back on all ends.

I have been arguing with my hubby cause lately the job has taken a priority over family and we have taken a beating from everyone in our life so even though he has been out of town, the phone calls with him have been on the slim side. He hasn't really thought about calling us to check in, work hours drag on endlessly so it takes up all his mental time.

My kids just finished with school thankfully, but since there isn't anything to do or anyone to play with just yet, they are constantly all over me to find them something to do.

My physical health has been tested over the last two days with no sleep and lots of physical pain that Mom, hasn't felt like herself lately.

So you can see where my mind has been. I wish I could say it's been out to lunch but that would be so nice. It's more like it's been reduced to meaningless sludge and left to rot.

I am trying to wake up today and get myself back on track and at least get the engine facing in the right direction.

I woke up to find so many positive and supportive comments regarding my decision to post about my abortion. I was expecting to see some horrible comments but instead, I got the confirmation from God through all of you, that I did the right thing.

We may never know the reason behind why we are asked to do certain things from God, but I did it without thinking and without questioning it. I feel better for doing it. I don't feel like the enemy can use that one anymore as a reason to be ashamed about my past, cause I have published it for all the world to see. Can't use that one again on me.

Then Heather from *Beautiful Self* offered me a wonderful way to make me feel whole again. She awarded me the "Beautiful Self award", pictured above.

It changed my day instantly like God had personally tapped her on the shoulder and told her to send this my way, because I needed a pick me up. If you haven't read her blog or followed her, I honestly believe you should. It's like a surprise grab bag from God because you will never know what you'll get.

Sometimes she shares personal stories that are ones anyone can relate to, videos or music that has touched her in some way or even blogging about someone else. She is amazing and her blog is used by God in a very specific way. Please check her out, become a follower and best of all, comment her posts and let her know just what they meant to you. It's something that really means a lot.

I wanted to pass this along to some many others that I believe are also beautiful on the outside but especially on the inside.

1. dear craisin - is my daughter Caitlyn's blog. She is trying her hand at writing and would love to be encouraged and motivated by all the love and support you have all shown me. Written from the heart of a teenager whose goal it is to make the world a more beautiful place from her simply being here. Please stop by her blog and follow it.

2. Andrea at Arise to Write. She was one of the very first to begin to follow my blog and continues to inspire me by her own blog but by the comments she leaves on mine as well. She has a beautiful soul that challenges us to reach out and be better people to the hurting world around us. Stop by and become a follower today.

3. Lisa Shaw at Marriage Flavor deserves this award because of the beautiful things she write about to help so many of us hurting in our marriages today. She gives words from God's own sweet lips to help and pray for people in believing and non-believing marriages. I believe God is using her to battle for the marriages all over the world who find this shining light in a dark world.

4. Laurie at Supernatural Living - deserves this because she has also been a follower and fellow encourager in my deepest and darkest hours of blogging. She is so beautiful because she shares how to help the new blogger with things like linking your name and blog within your post so that posting recommendations makes things easy to people to find you and follow you. Thank you Laurie for emailing me personally to set that up!

5. Jennifer at Through the Storms of Life - for sharing her beautiful and personal journey of how she became a believer. Too often I feel people look at Christians and think we don't make mistakes once we are saved, or we have never walked in their shoes before, but we have. Thanks Jennifer for sharing how God has made your life a better one simply by knowing Him. Thanks also for the bedroom tips make over, not done with it yet, but changed the bedding last weekend and we love it already.

There are so many others that I follow but I am super confident thanks to Heather sharing this beautiful award to some many it will find it's way to other blogs we all have common ground with. Please don't let this sit but pass it along. You just never know how it will brighten someones day or even weekend for them.

A Tough Call

I have felt led in the last 24 hours by the Holy Spirit based on so many testimonies that I have read not only in the blogging world but in the news as well.

It leads me to share not only my own testimony in a particular area of my past to hopefully help someone in the same situation or perhaps someone that they know.
It deals with a very painful and shameful subject for me. It deals with abortion.

At 17, I thought I knew everything I needed to know as a high school teenager in a relationship with a boy for over a year. A boy I loved, in every sense of the word, that I knew it at the time. Someone I gave my heart to!

Someone I thought I would marry.

Someone I thought I would spend the rest of my life with.

I woke up to what should have been a normal high school morning and I found out one morning that I was pregnant.

No amount of tears could ever be collected to show just how much I wish crying could erase everything in my life at that moment.

In an instant, my life changed. Forever.

My boyfriend offered his sympathy, but ultimately after the tears and sobs stopped, the question lingered.

"You aren’t going to keep it right?"

"You’re going to do the right thing and get rid of it right?"

"We’re only teenagers and not ready to be parents, you see that right?"

Even though these words came from the mouth of my boyfriend, it would take me many years later to see that they came from the enemy instead.

Of course at 17, I wasn’t prepared to have a baby much less raise one for the rest of my life.

At 14, my mom gave birth to my youngest sister, and it subsequently fell to me to raise her while my mom returned to work. She was a single mom at the time.

So I had spent the last three years, learning what it’s like to raise a baby and hating every minute of it. I had the diaper changes and feedings and constant care. I mean where was my life headed. What about my time?

Thankfully mom took care of the nights, so I didn’t see the things parents deal with at night or when you are at school. When it doesn’t end, the caring of a newborn.

I had already made a decision that day.

I was too young.

I didn’t want to share it with anyone.

I didn’t have an open relationship with my parents to discuss this.

My parents would have probably forced me to keep the baby, but if I didn’t tell them, they would never know.

So I hid my problem. My boyfriend worked, so he paid for my procedure. Let’s call it that for now. It still shames me to hear the word abortion and me in the same sentence.

I was wide-awake for the whole thing.

It was the most horrible thing a woman will ever have to deal with in her life.
No brochures, conversations, or videos can ever explain how you will feel when you go through it.

Besides the physical pain, you know without a doubt what you are doing.
You are ending a life inside you.

You made a choice to have sex and the consequence was pregnancy.

Now you have the choice to deal with it or run and hide.

I hid.

Once the procedure was over, I cried.

I cried for the pain I felt physically but more for the pain I felt emotionally and mentally.

I cried for the life I had taken so easily without a second thought.

I still cry for that life. A child that would be 28 today.

A child I will see again.

I wasn’t a Christian then.

My parents weren’t a religious family.

I have no excuse, what I did will live for me forever.

You will never get over it. You will never forget it.

But since I found God, He forgave me for it.

He took away my grief, my shame and my sadness for that life.

He cleaned me and made me whole again.

He covers my ears, so that I am no longer reminded by the enemy of my shame and shortcoming as a woman.

I shared this personal story today, because I believe it’s time for Christians to stand up for their beliefs. It was time for me to share something of my faith, because I believe people need to see Christians as something other than perfect and never doing anything wrong in their lives.

They need to know how our lives are different and how Jesus can change us. Make us better people because of His love.

I don’t support abortion and would strongly advise any option besides that one. Why?
Because I don’t want anyone to suffer the pain I still feel 28 years later, even though Jesus has forgive me.

I know some that stop by here will judge me. You have every right to do so. However, I believe God uses our circumstances to reach out to a hurting person and can say, "I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there. I can help you. Will you let me?"

God uses everything that happens to us for the good of reaching people that are hurting. People that don’t want to be judged. People that think so far less of themselves than they should. People that have no one. God uses people like me to reach people like you.

I share it because I have been there and can tell you, it’s not worth it. Jesus is! If you know someone who is considering abortion or you, who is reading this, just passing through is, please, stop.

Pray and ask God for help. This is not God’s answer to the problem. It’s the enemies! Don’t run away. Seek help in the Christian community and find a church. Talk to a pastor. Ask for help! You can even email me direct and I will talk to you. You are not alone! You are not worthless but worthy!

There is someone there that is just waiting for you to help you. Don’t forget God loves you and will be with you every step of the way. You will never face anything alone, ever again. I hope this has helped you.

It's Official, We Have a Junior!

Before you start to congratulate me on our recent addition, we didn't just have a baby! My baby booming days are O-V-E-R! Not that I mind kids, it's just now that mine are at the point of becoming somewhat self sufficient, like making their own breakfast, even though it isn't what mom would consider breakfast, like microwave hot dogs because they just taste great in the morning!

What I am talking about is my sophomore daughter has graduated officially today to a Junior! I even teased her that the word "Junior" should be at the end of her last name. She didn't find it as funny as I did.

Do kids ever?

We got all her grades in, turned in all her books, science fair projects, Geometry Projects, Spanish papers, and anything else that doesn't belong to her and handed it all over to the school.

What do we get in return, besides security and peace of mind that we don't have to locate a missing text book before the end of year?

Final Grades!

Yup, she mastered her second year of high school with straight A's.

Hey her standard, not ours. We are super excited she maintains it, but the effort she puts into it all year for her is apparently worth all the long nights, and study hours to get great test grades.

What excited her the most was the new title!

No more Sophomore! I mean I hated that title for a ten grader. Sop More? Sof More?

Nah, now it's Junior. Said with an air of distinction. Like a royal title that rolls off your tongue like honey!

Oh and the added bonus that she is now officially on her summer hiatus! NO more school.

No more grades.

No more tests!

No more studying!

Time to hang out with friends all summer long and make new memories!

Time to forget her school romance that didn't end well.

Her ex by the way, still can't believe she hasn't locked herself in her room, binging on chocolate, crying her eyes out and watching every romantic chick flick ever invented!

Um, not if mom and all her friends network can help it. Nope! Time to get out, and stay busy.

For now, we celebrate.

We celebrate the whole aspect of the possibilities of what a new year can bring, new friends, new activities, courses, college schedules and of course, the possibility of a new love!

For now, we relish the moment of the word, Junior!

The Heartbreak of a Teen

I was sitting at home watching TV and waiting for my oldest daughter, Caitlyn to arrive home from her youth group with her boyfriend. They attend a high school group with some of their friends from high school.

My daughter came in sounding like she was laughing hysterically and when I went to see what was up, I soon realized those weren’t laughs. They were heart-breaking sobs, coupled with never ending tears and hunched shoulders.

I asked her what was wrong, and she just cried worse. I am thinking, car accident, something went wrong at church, or a death of a friend. It was worse than that.

Her boyfriend of almost 8 months, cause in teen years, every day counts, had broken up with her. He started the conversation like so many of us have heard before, “We need to talk.” Then he dropped the bomb, and left her standing on the porch crying while he got in the car with his dad and drove off.

This is where we enter the story again, with my daughter in tears. It honestly breaks your heart as a mom, because you want to take that pain away and just make it all better. We know better that only time and a lot of prayers make it better.

I had her call her best friend, Samm, that lives down the block even though it was getting late. Girlfriends never think anytime to deal with a break up is too late. She was over in a matter of minutes.

During that time, between sobs, and hugs, we learned that he felt they would be better friends. Oh how I have heard that before. Typical excuse, even though deep down, I felt there was more. Since they are both so young, communication skills were something that they were both learning.

My daughter explained that for a couple of weeks, they were arguing a bit more, and there were longer periods of silence between them. He was spending more time away from her than with her and their phone calls were getting shorter.

Background: She is going on 16 in two months and he just turned 15 in January. They don’t go to the same school, just occasionally get together on Wednesday nights for youth group and some dates on the weekend with friends and family. They are both committed to keeping themselves spiritually pure until marriage and both have strong Christian upbringing and families.

During the remainder of the night we tried to get her calm enough to at least try and get some sleep and we would deal with them more in the morning. I tried to explain that since they were both so young, it’s hard to learn the art of communicating when things are going well in your relationship, to try and resolve them. It takes practice. Lot’s of practice.

My daughter seems to think my hubby and I are seasoned experts. I had to explain that things aren’t always as great as they seem and we have to work things out when we don’t agree. I explained that we already have an agreement based on our marriage covenant that we will stay together no matter what, so we have to agree to work together when we come to a fork in our road.

We agree that we are committed to talking it out.

I often wonder in this turbulent time in our world if this isn’t the enemy trying to break up a great pair of people who are committed to furthering God’s work among the teens. If he can try to cause separation, he knows they won’t work on trying to stay together, they will simply turn and walk away. Too much trouble to deal with.

I wonder what would have happened if they simply agreed to sit down together to discuss their differences openly to see if those are changes both are willing to make to keep the relationship intact.

Why is it easier to walk away rather than try to work it out?
Are relationships so disposable that we can treat people like they don’t matter?

I believe if you commit to one another, even in a teen relationship, you need the support of both parents to help teens through issues such as this.
Otherwise, how will our teens learn how to deal with issues once something like this comes up in a marriage?

If we don’t teach them how to communicate, how will they learn?

My daughter saw how well my husband and I get along, but what she failed to understand is what she doesn’t see.

She doesn’t see compromise, she doesn’t see a willingness to work on things and never give up, and she doesn’t see how we honestly resolve our conflicts together when we don’t agree.

Please pray for her to be healed in this breakup process. Please pray that God won’t allow her to harden her heart towards others God may bring her way. Pray that God will reveal any lesson to her that she needed to learn by this experience and that He will send her comfort. By the way, she is the person pictured above.

With so many teen suicides these days, we never know what teens are thinking. We are truly blessed that she has a great network of Christian friends that we are making sure she is with daily right now. Dark times lay ahead and we pray that parents are open enough with our teens to make sure they can come to us with any need they have no matter how dumb or stupid it may seem.

We need to pray for not only our teens but the others they come into contact with daily, who may be searching for a willing ear and a shoulder to cry on and a heart that understands.

Brown Spots On My Lawn

So many of you share my love of gardening, from growing flowers to maintaining the yards of our homes with nice, beautiful, green lawns, if we can.

While I was out watering my lawn, I noticed that there were spots on it, that the sprinklers have a tendency of missing. So I take out the hose and water. I wait about 30 seconds and water all around those areas that are brown. I was also thinking about what I should blog about next.

That’s when God spoke to my heart.

He asked me if I knew why those spots are brown.

In my over confidence, I said, Um, sure, the sprinkler isn’t watering very well and these are missed areas.

Know where I am going with this one?

God asked me if I was sure it was really lack of water or could it be something else. I felt His probing in asking what else cause brown spots.

Here is the answer I gave Him. Well it could be dog urine, grubs under the lawn or some other type of lawn pest, heat, not fertilizing it enough or even over watering.

Then God asked me, how I could apply those same symptoms to the Christian walk when things aren’t going so well. So I took them in the order I gave them to God.

Not getting enough water – Well that just goes without saying that if we stay away from church or God’s word long enough, we run dry. We start to conform and become like those in the world that are without Christ. Water is vital to all living things; much like God’s word is vital to the Christian walk. Without it, we are way out of balance.

Dog Urine – This is the example of when something is done to us, and we keep dwelling on it over and over. It eats away at us, little by little, until we finally blow up at the first person that comes along. We need to rinse it off, by giving it up to God in prayer to deal with, and not think about it any longer. We gave it to God, let it go. Don’t try and take it back to deal with on your own.

Grubs or other pests in your lawn – Temptation on a daily basis for Christians can make us weak over time, if we don’t do what is vital to keep our thoughts right with God. All temptations start with a thought, and it gets fed over and over until we often justify that it’s OK to do it. The problem is the longer we let it go, the worse the problem becomes. Like grubs and other lawn pest, we need the ultimate insecticide, let’s call it the Bible for us Christians. Plus its green friendly and organically safe. No animals were harmed in the reading of the Bible. Get yours today!

Heat – When stress and other pressures build up on us, we break. Just like the green lawn can only take extreme temperatures for brief periods, we too are like that. We can only take so much before we have to give it to God. God didn’t design us to bear the burden of the world alone. He meant to share the things that can be too heavy. God is always willing to shoulder the heavier burdens for us, leaving us the lighter ones. Rest in God’s green pasture.

Fertilizer – We all need food to survive. In the Christian world, this comes not only in reading God’s word, but also in prayer and in fellowship with others. We become better people and feel a lot happier after being in the presence of God at church and through Bible studies. Get involved if you aren’t feeling especially spiritual lately and see what it can do for you.

Over Watering – I know some Christians are so involved with church, fellowships, Bible Studies, church functions, prayer vigils and personal time reading the Bible, that they forget the needy around them. If we don’t take time to care for others that are in desperate need of God’s living water, we are simply being greedy and wasting the precious resource God gave us.

I pray that if your walk is weak, see if those ‘brown spots’ in your spiritual life, aren’t related to they symptoms above. If they are, be assured it’s a simple fix if you’re willing to treat them. The quicker the better to a more beautiful, green, lush lawn in your Christian walk.

God Has A Golden Heart!

I must say some mornings are such a blessing when you wake up to something amazing and that really warms your heart to the core.

Nope, that is not coffee although it is sitting right next to me this morning as I write this but I wanted to share with you The Golden Heart Award that I received this morning from Sarah at God's Not Finished With Us Yet. Her blog is amazing and I personally feel inspired by God! If you haven't visited her blog, please do so and send her a kind comment today!

These awards mean a lot to bloggers like myself, because you honestly wonder if what you are writing is connecting to anyone out there.

Sure you may monitor the comments or blog traffic on any number of days, but unless someone comes out and shares with you how your particular post touched them, you never know.

I am so touched and blessed and sometimes tears fall as I read your heartfelt comments. Please know I appreciate the time it takes to write them and to stop by.

My blog was meant as an outlet for God. As a stay at home mom, who is holding down the fort while hubby is away traveling for work some 90% of the time, life can get lonely. I have eternal hope however, as Jesus and I sit down each morning.

We review all the comments from the day before, read our Bible devotions together over coffee, and then decide what to share with you today.

Since our evening last night didn't end on a sweet note, we were hoping for a change today. We got it when I received this award. I means so much. I love the "Golden Heart" because for me, it represents what Jesus has. He doesn't harbor any resentment or ill will to anyone despite how He is treated.

Us, for the other hand, well it's hard not to harbor any ill feelings or resentment or even not to think it. That is why God remains pure like gold. It lasts, like God's love. It's valuable like our relationship's to God.

I give Him the glory and honor this morning, that Sarah saw something in my blog, and decided to pass this beauty along to us.

Now it's my turn to pay it forward! If you receive this award you must find, 5 others and send it along to them along with a kind comment to come back and see what their blessed gift is. I can only hope it will inspire them to continue to write for the enjoyment not only of those following us, but those you merely use our blogs as stepping stones!

Here are my choices:

1. Heather at *Beautiful Self* - Her blog is so amazing because I personally feel so blessed each time I stop by.

2. Rosel at Off the Beaten Path - I love how she shares how unique her daily life is where she works and how she not only brings about physical healing to the people she deals with each day, but spiritual healing as well.

3. Lisa at Marriage Flavor as well as Sharing Life with Lisa - I find this woman so captivating I would love to personally meet her. I can feel God's joy overflowing from each of her blogs. Marriage Flavor is just what is sounds like, ways to add 'flavor into our marriages.' Her other blog, Sharing Life with Lisa is more intimate and personal reflection and devotion with Lisa and God.

4. Billy at What I Learned Today. I love that we have an inspired and gifted writer who is a man. He is unique at what he shares with us each day and honestly you never know what your going to get when you check out his post each day, but it's a gift that you didn't expect and love dearly. His blog site will become a personal favorite!

5. Jennifer at Through the Storms of Life. - Her blog offers life from a woman's perspective. Her most recent post offered a master bedroom makeover and she took all of us through the process with her. The best part of it, was she commented me with the color of paint and brand so I can do the same in my room. That is going above and beyond to me in sharing some helpful information. Thanks Jennifer! You inspire me!

There are so many others that I follow and feel like I should list them all. Please feel free to attach this award to your blog if you feel so inclined and I hope that this blesses all your days and makes it shine!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

The Vitamin for Your Marriage, Laughter

Do you often wonder where all the smiles, laughs and humor went lately?

Just in case you're wondering what's going on in the picture above, it's my daughter catching snowflakes! Nice face huh?

It seems like our world has gotten so hushed and serious all of a sudden. No wonder people appear lost, devoid of all hope and joy living in fear and anxiety over what will exactly happen next.

I guess the enemy loves this time in our world. When did it all go south?

I guess hope went first.

When bad times happen, it’s hard to see the end of the tunnel. All we see is some hope of light perhaps, but mostly I believe people just see continued darkness.

The tunnel leads to despair, which robs you of your hope and leaves you alone and depressed.

All the "what ifs and if only’s begin to pop up in your mind.

We spend so much time worrying about the future prospects, it’s not wonder we live in our world of fear. We have so much anxiety over the things that may never come to pass. We forget about all the times we were blessed and still are.

Our focus has changed, but it’s time we learn to laugh again.

My hubby, Steve and I can sit outside and just share a conversation with each other, and something funny will pop up. We begin to laugh about it for a few minutes. Most of the time, our kids think we have finally snapped, until we tell them what’s so funny. Most of the time, they look at us, and wonder "that’s not that funny."

Our response is usually the same, "guess you had to be there."

I find it interesting that a lot of bloggers will even take time off blogging to share a funny story, joke or even a picture with us. I think we need more of that. I think we need a laugh every hour or so. Not a big belly laugh, but a slight chuckle will do.

I have the best time picturing Jesus laughing. I don’t think all His time on earth was spent, in a serious sermon mode, but I bet He laughed. I bet He laughed quite a bit.

Psalm 2:4 " The One enthroned in heaven laughs;"

Psalm 126:2 " Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

I think especially in marriage that laughter can be great medicine.

Not all people will find the same things funny, but in general I think laughter enables couples to cope. It provides an outlet for people to let out all the negative feelings and emotions we keep bottled up inside. Laughter bonds people.

It also helps us deal with physical pain better. The French philosopher Voltaire wrote, "The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Modern research indicates that people with a sense of humor have fewer symptoms of physical illness than those who are less humorous."

Even the doctor portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie "Patch Adams", knew laughter heals. This movie was based on the real life story of Hunter Campbell "Patch" Adams.

In King Solomon's times, people have known about and applied the healing benefits of humor. As Proverbs tells us, "A cheerful heart is good medicine." (17:22)

Other real life examples of how humor and laughter can help as a coping mechanism are author, Viktor Frankl. In Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning, he speaks of using humor to survive imprisonment during World War II. Frankl and another inmate would invent at least one amusing story daily to help them cope with their horrors.

Laughter helps us to deal with stress and what marriage and family life isn’t filled with some degree of stress these days. Bills to be paid, kids demanding more time and/or more things, when things break down unexpectedly in the home, washers, dryers, water heaters, you name it. All these things add to the stress a marriage is already under.

It’s really hard to stay mad at someone who makes you laugh. Try it with your kid’s one day, when they are in a horrible mood, just try and make them laugh or at the very least smile. They may be madder that you made them laugh when they just wanted to stay mad.

Trust me, no one wants to stay mad.

We just forget how to get over to the other side and smile again. To get to cartoon land, where things are so serious. Where a smile warms you just like the rays of the sun.

I think we need to desperately lighten up, and relax a little bit more. Remember what really matters!

Some great Christian authors also share how laughter and humor can make our relationships better. Chuck Swindoll said, "Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy God ever granted humanity."

Do you know what makes your spouse laugh? What do they really find funny? Perhaps it’s time to do some investigating and try and bring that humor back to the surface where it belongs. I am not saying that we have to be laughing all the time, but I think it’s a balance that is missing in our lives at the present moment.

So, lighten up. Learning to laugh a little more just may save your life, not to mention your marriage. To paraphrase Henry Ward Beecher, "A marriage without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs — jolted by every pebble in the road."

I believe that humor is one of God’s best gifts and as adults we have lost it because we are too serious and overly responsible. Kids don’t seem to have any problem with finding the simplest thing funny!

As adults we are so busy at trying to achieve some level of comfort and success, we forget how to live. Dr. Chuck Swindoll goes on to talk about the up side and downside of our drive to achieve. Jokingly speaking of an ‘elite club’ High Achievers Anonymous, Chuck spoke compassionately about the high cost that our work addictions play in our primary relationships. The tragedy is, enough is never enough. Life becomes reduced to work, tasks, effort, an endless list of shoulds and musts...minus the necessary fun and laughter that keeps everything in perspective.

Chuck says that there is always one telltale sign when pride takes charge of our life: the fun leaves. Deep within, the overachiever begins to think that life is much too busy, much too serious to waste it on silly things like relaxation and laughter. Why has our 20th century suffered so terribly from laughless dictators like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini?

G.K. Chesterton comments: ‘Madmen are always serious; they go mad from lack of humor.’
Laughter is hope’s last weapon. Perhaps it’s time to go searching for it once again and see what a difference it makes in our relationships and in our own life!

My Pet Peeves!

I don’t have pet by the name of Peeve although it would make for an interesting pet name. I could imagine the vet asking, "and you ma’am, what is the name of your pet?"

"Peeve!"

"Excuse me, I don’t think I got that?"

"Peeve, my pet’s name is Peeve!"

"Oh Pete, that’s a nice name."

"No, it’s Peeve, like P-E-E-V-E, Peeve", and I would wait and smile.

Today’s post is simply about the little things in life that irritates me.

I thought of only two last night but then they just started pouring out. They aren’t really things I can change but like looking at the odd color choice that someone decided to paint their house. When you look at it, you think, ‘what were they thinking?’ ‘Do they really like that color?’ ‘Do they hate their neighbors?’

Come on, you’ve seen those houses or even the odd color choices for some cars lately. I guess some people really want to stand out that much. I just smile and wave!

Here is my list with the above one as well in no particular order:

Being late! - I hate being late to anything! It causes me such stress when I do, even if what I was late for was going to be something fun, not I am not the ‘fun’ person to be around. It will take me awhile just to ‘get over being late’. I especially don’t like it when other people are late. I think in today’s society with everything being so fast paced that we are struggling in our day to find extra minutes to fill other errands into. So when someone is late, without a valid excuse, I think it’s inconsiderate. Now it just pushes my day later into the evening and possibly rescheduling something else.

My hubby had to wait yesterday til a co-worker dropped off his work truck at our home yesterday before he could leave for Las Vegas. He called his co-worker yesterday morning and left a message. All day long, my hubby tried unsuccessfully to reach this person. At this point, we had to consider back up plan B, in case we couldn’t get the work truck. At 5:30pm last night, he finally returns Steve’s call, during dinner and tells him that he can pick up the truck at his house, whenever he has a chance.

Steve politely tells him, through gritted teeth, that after dinner, he will be over to get it. I will have to drive him there. Thankfully it only takes about 15 minutes to get to his house. When we arrive there, he isn’t ready. He was supposed to load his tools and clothes into the truck, because he is going to take his motorcycle instead, so Steve will be transporting his stuff to the site in Vegas.

He tells Steve, he will bring it over around 8 tonight. Great! How nice of the guy right!

At 8:30pm, he calls my hubby to tell him that he isn’t quite finished packing yet and will be taking his sisters car instead so he will be dropping the truck off in 45 minutes.

Let’s just say, at 10:00pm, he dropped off the keys and truck to Steve.

That is why I don’t like people being late. They assume that we have nothing better to do than wait! Wait for them to arrive! What ever happened to common courtesy and manners?

Photo Sensor Lights – The kind that take your picture if you run a red light. I think they probably prevent more people from running red lights, because we slam on the brakes when the light turns yellow to prevent our picture from being taken. Either that or we drive really fast to make it through the intersection as quick as we can. Help me understand the necessity in this?? I find that people who camp in the middle of the intersection is even worse!

Poorly timed traffic lights! – I wonder who even sets those up. I used to believe that it was based on some street sensor that would change the light when a car was stopped at a light. Now I know that they are there to try our patience. We have an entire main street through town, that if they just changed the timing, we wouldn’t have three cars make it through an intersection at a time, while the cross streets can fill the next block while waiting for the light to turn green.

Potato Chip Bag Capacity – It seems like in addition to the snack chips we are buying in the family size bags, we are now paying for flavor scented air that is packaged along with our chips. My kids picked up a bag of chips and noticed despite being on sale for $3.00 a bag, the contents were only half full, if that and the remainder was air. What happened to packaging issues? Does air weigh that much?

Voting – Why is it when we, as the people of our cities, states and government, vote something in that was on the ballet, it doesn’t get put into effect or some small group of protestors brings about issues that it shouldn’t have made it to the ballot to begin with? Huh? Doesn’t it have to go through some committee that decides whether or not it gets placed on the ballot? Is there a guy at the ballot printing company that decides to put it on there just to see what happens?

Professional Spots Figures Salaries – Now when is it justified when professional (fill in the blank of a sport) players, get paid millions over a few years to play a sport, while teachers are facing budget issues, and are being laid off in droves in the worst economy since the great depression? Since when do sports players deserve to make more money that fire fighters, police officers, nurses, doctors and teachers? I guess we will have to close more hospitals and emergency rooms to pay for another player’s salary!

Gas prices – Why do gas prices come down by pennies over the course of weeks, while it rises by a nickel or more over a day? Who determines that anyway?

Emergency Room Waiting Times – I realize that since more hospitals in most areas have reduced or even eliminated ER services for cost cutting issues, the waiting times have increased at the ones that are left. Why then don’t urgent care centers stay open 24 hours so parents can zip in and get a quick fix to a child’s high fever or a cough? Doctor’s offices are not staying open later, nor are urgent care centers, so parents are forced to wait 4+ hours to be seen by a doctor just to get the prescription they need.

Cell Phone Company Contracts – In this economy where car manufacturers are dealing with the sudden loss of jobs and offering customers up to 12 months of payment help depending on the company and yet cell phone companies won’t let you out of your contract for any reason? If you have a family plan with 4 lines, that is between $175.00 to $300.00 per line to cancel your service. I would like to see a phone company stand up to this and offer its customers no cancellation fee, should you lose your job. I mean how are you going to pay for it, if you aren’t working? I guess we’ll let the house go into foreclosure because we have a $1200.00 bill for canceling our phone service this month.

Whew! That is a lot of pet peeves, guess I should get a pet and name it Peeve after all! I hope you get some humor from my list and add to it in your comments on my blog today. Can’t wait to hear what yours are?

Final Moments

I had this thought today, while I was sitting in church this morning listening to our pastor preach.

He was talking about all the preparation that Jesus went into days prior to his crucifixion.

He prayed a lot, he broke bread and had wine with His disciples, and fellow shipped with those whom I believed He knew would be broken and lost without Him.

Little did they know just how little time they actually had with him, although Jesus did tell them on quite a few occasions just when it would happen, I think like most of it, we think, maybe it won't. Perhaps something can happen to change the event.

Maybe it won't be as bad as we think it will be.

During those minutes of listening to our sermon, I believe God spoke to my heart about my husbands upcoming trip tomorrow. He assured me, He has this all under his control and will be keeping watch out for Him.

Yes, I will miss him when I head to bed and fell his presence missing, leaving me alone in the dark.

But I smile, because I know God is using Him. God has plans for us.

My husband is being sent to Las Vegas, that's right sin city, anything goes as far as temptations there, and most of it's legal or at least not looked at in the same perspective as we would like to see it.

However, Steve's parents live there. They retired there recently and it's been quite awhile since he has visited them.

I see it as opportunity. I see it as time with his parents whom aren't getting any younger, both whom have had health issues, and could use some one on one time, with their youngest son.

Even though he will be working long hours, his evenings will still be spent with them. It will be a nice surprise to get some alone time, with their son again.

Who knows what will happen in the future? But for now, I will completely put my faith in trust in God and see this for the good that God has in store.

So today, we spent the day together after church.

We spent some quality time, just being alone. Just the two of us.

Reminding each other of why our relationship is so special and unique to us.

We had lunch and worked on the yard! We sat around and laughed and had some great memories shared between the two of us.

I will miss him but I know God needs him someplace else for now. I love him in so many ways not only as my best friend, my soul mate, and husband, but also my fellow believer in Christ. The days we have here together will seem like mere seconds when we get to heaven and can share an eternity with Jesus!

Sure there may be things that will be trying to draw his attention away while in Las Vegas, but with God on my side, it's a bet I am willing to make and one that is sure to win!

Friday Funny

I wanted to leave you all with a smile on your face and some laughs in your heart for the weekend.

AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.

PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.

Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with "Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder" or A.A.A.D.D.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Dr. Pepper I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Dr. Pepper aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Dr. Pepper is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Dr. Pepper, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Dr. Pepper on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed;

the bills aren't paid;

there is a warm can of Dr. Pepper sitting on the counter;

the flowers don't have enough water;

there is still only one check in my check book;

I can't find the remote;
I can't find my glasses;
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my blog.

Do me a favor.

Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who I've sent it to.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!