Happy Columbus Day! It's rather early still, and I'm on Day two of my "At Least One Blog Entry a Day" Campaign. I mentally started it yesterday, and I'd like to write at least one blog entry each day for a month. I seriously doubt my abilities to focus and stay on track in attempting this goal, but I'm still going to try. If I do indeed succeed at this, I will have kind of developed a new habit, so writing in my blog will be the "normal natural" think that comes first each day. Anyway...
About a week ago, my precious computer died. You have to understand this: My computer and I, well we really have a tough bond. I spend a LOT of time on my computer every single day, and I learn all of my features and buttons to make my system work for me. So if suddenly I can't get my computer to turn on and when it does come on, the computer randomly shuts off, I start to panic. I have a zillion pictures and documents saved on my computer of ideas for projects, family photos, and random images and stories.
When I dropped my computer off at a "Computer Repair" shop in Montgomery, Alabama, I was convinced that the issues I was having were due to a loose power cord and the computer somehow wasn't getting the necessary "juice" to run. The people running the place, an older couple who looked like they retired and got bored staying at home, seemed to think that it just may be the electrical connection as well. Tighten a little bit of this and twist a little bit of that, and I should be able to expect a phone call the next day to come pick up my phone.
And I did get a phone call the next day alright. To inform me that the motherboard had gone out in my year and a half old computer friend, and a new motherboard was going to be $220 and I still had to pay the diagnostic fee for them finding the problem. The owner lady kept telling me that it was cheaper for me to buy a new computer, and that they also sell computers. She said that if I will buy one of their computers, they will transfer all of my information from my old computer to the new one FREE OF CHARGE.
I don't know why, but this was where she started to rub me the wrong way. If I am paying you the diagnostic fee to fix my old computer AND should I choose to purchase a new computer from you, I would really hope that you would hook up the cords and transfer info from one computer to another for free. That's kind of like owning a store that only accepts checks and that store is having a tough time in this economy. Then a very generous person comes in and spends $250. After they pay, you realize that you forgot to ring up a $5.00 shirt. Do you make the person write out another check for $5? NO, you show your appreciation, ESPECIALLY if they are personally helping you out, and you GIVE them the shirt to show that you are grateful! I went in the store two times, and each time there were no other customers. DON'T pick over each thing if you would be making a lot of month on one purchase.
So what did I do? I made a responsible adult decision to wait a few days to decide. And, I was kind of in mourning over the death of my old buddy Computer, so I asked her to please let me speak with my husband and see if we could rub out hands together and make the $$$ appear to fix my old computer. Ok, I didn't say that about the money part, but either way, over the next few days, my mother told me I needed a second opinion. And I'm thankful that I listened.
The new place my mother suggested resulted from a recommendation from a highly trusted client of her business. He swore that a place where he gets his computers repaired is amazing, so we decided to try a second opinion after all...
(BTW, my mom owns an income tax business, Dease Accounting in Montgomery, AL, so if you are searching for a new Accountant to handle your personal or business tax information and returns, give her a call at (334) 270-9970. Of course, I recommend her because she IS my mother, but I also worked with her there for a few years. I was very impressed with how she genuinely cares about each person and every return, and her prices are PHENONEMAL compared to H and R Block, usually MORE than 50% cheaper. I know all of my old high school and college friends are learning the hard truth about filing taxes and it's confusing anyway. I promise, if I can work for her and understand what and why things are taken out, she will definitely be able to explain it to you... haha. FYI, I'm really proud of her bc that is one stressful job during tax season!)
Back to my computer:
The name of the AWESOME computer repair business that I also now highly recommend is Computer Commuter. The owner is Kevin Elkins, and his office is located in Montgomery, Alabama on Monticello Drive. (Click HERE for directions to their office.) Turns out, my motherboard was out of service, yes. But the cause was indeed the power cord and the over-amount of power that FRIED my computer and some other technical info that I can't quite remember. There was NO pressure to buy another computer, there was no stressed out Best Buy Geek Squad Assembly Line In and Out Quickly kind of atmosphere. It's was totally worth it.
Needless to say, I was better off to buy a brand new computer. And of course, Computer Commuter helped with that as well. They don't sell computers, but they were more than willing to help us find one at a wonderful price, AND (love this!) they explained what each little GB and tit tat means that now comes on each computer... THANKS!! If you need a new computer and a place gives you a quote that you think is too high, head on over to best buy or Wal-Mart, wherever computers are sold, and get a quote from them as well. That will let you know if you are getting ripped off or not. And we definitely were NOT getting ripped off by Computer Commuter!
Fortunately, in my situation, when it came to getting a new computer, their assistance was greatly appreciated, and our BRAND NEW computer is now supposed to arrive by Friday of this week!! Yay! That is also part of our Christmas from my Mom and Step Dad, Rusty, and I am SO thankful that they are going to allow me to have it early now! I really need to get to all of my craft information before this year's Holidays arrive, too.
Speaking of Parentals, Two days ago, I went grocery shopping with my Dad, and we had SO much fun! It has been years since we had been grocery shopping together, and it had also been years since he had been in a grocery store that small! I took him to SUPER FOODS in Tallassee, a place that is a little bigger than Dollar General but much smaller than Food World. In addition to common brand names of Today's World, they also carry random brands that were popular like 30 years ago. It was so much fun to hear Daddy say, "Chelsea, I haven't seen this or that in years!" I had a great day with him, and it was nice to go back in time!
I was going to fill you in on what I've been working on over the past week, but I'm getting a little antsy sitting at the computer right now. I've typed a lot, and my medicine has kicked in to wake me up. Scott is still asleep, so I'm going to go goof off... haha. Talk to you later!
Showing posts with label Alabama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alabama. Show all posts
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Stay Here or Go There? Can't Decide...
Hey Everyone... This post doesn't really have much of a point to it. Maybe you could file this post under "Random Therapy Blogging." Therapy for me, that is. Obviously.
Lately, I've honestly just been in a cranky mood. I think I'm in a funk with selling my items and making them, and it's hard to snap out of it. I'm almost positive that most of my "blah-ness" is due to the fact that I make everything at home, sell everything from home, and ship everything from home. So where does that leave me? Always at home, constantly. A LOT.
Don't get me wrong: I LOVE being at my house more than anything. But occasionally a Sunday night will roll around where I wish time would stop for just a little while so my normal weekly routine could wait just a tiny bit longer to come again.
Well on a different note:
I'm kind of stuck in a rut with my shop. I've struggled over the past few months, mainly from March until now, trying to find my style, my niche, and myself all at the same time. I LOVE making new things and hearing compliments and comments about my work! So, I'm trying to decide exactly where to go from here.
Right now, I'm about to start focusing on the upcoming Christmas Holidays, and making gifts and items during the busy season! I need to have a MAJOR plan to put into place after Christmas when everyone is sick of shopping and broke as a joke from buying gifts. I'm looking into several different options, and I'm trying to see which ones fit nicely into my tiny budget area. Here are a few of my options.
I can continue to sell solely online and to friends. Besides my Etsy Shop sales, this is mainly that I'm doing right now. As I've said in earlier posts, Etsy and Facebook are two completely different selling atmospheres, and do better in different areas in both shops. Jewelry is better on Facebook and paintings and housewares sell better on Etsy.
I can start traveling and selling wholesale items to different shops and boutiques. I have had three offers to purchase and then sell my jewelry from three local shops, but I still haven't traveled down that road as of right now. The offers are still available, and I have a little time to decide.
I know that I'm still struggling to make an organized inventory system, and I still have a few kinks to work out. When I first started making jewelry, I would make a few items here and there, but nothing major. Now, I have a HUGE collection of supplies, tooks, and teeny tiny pieces, which I have neatly organized in plastic containers and a HUGE Tiered Tackle Box with a million slots full of beads. That's not where the problem was/is.
The hard part is filing and organizing the finished pieces. I had to develop a system to keep track of each piece, the date, where it is listed, etc. I've finally started consistently naming each completed piece of jewelry, and I'm currently working to create a manageable paper trail with all of my information and create "Collections." Before I can even think about selling to actual shops, I have to finish my inventory count, organize and name all of my pieces, know how many pieces I have the capabilities to make, etc.
I have to say, though, it would be nice to have like... say ten shops that purchased wholesale from my collections. Ten consistent shops to start out with. And I would have all of their contact info ORGANIZED neatly in my business files. When they place an order, I make the pieces and deliver the finished inventory to them, which they then purchase from me. Then I have a set date that I make contact, preferably in person, with the owner again to see if they are interested in making any more purchases, and to let them see any new pieces and accessories. Ten Shops doesn't seem too outrageous, if I already have three interested. I just don't want to jump into something before I think it out, or before I'm completely organized.
Kind of like how I first started out with no inventory system in mind? Now any of the pieces I made in the beginning that did not sell yet are not inventoried or saved in my computer according to the system I created. Once those pieces are sold, I will be able to have everything finalized.
Item # 0911E0001 is one example:
09= September
11= Year (2011)
E= Earrings
0001= 1st pair created that month
This still doesn't sort each piece according to color, so I'm working on that area as well. Every single finished piece or pair has (or will have) an index card. On the top of the index card is the Item # just like the above number. Also on the card, in the lined space, is a list of every material or piece used to create the piece/pair, my cost, the time it took to make each piece/pair, IF it is a piece to a set and if so I'll list the other Item #'s for those pieces as well, the selling price, the date of creation, the date listed online, and the date sold (IF Sold already), and anything else I want to list. Each index card is filed in numerical order with like pieces.
It may sounds tedious and confusing, but remember what I have to remind myself of all the time when I Start to feel overwhelmed: I created the system. I decide what goes on the card and where. I can manipulate the card to meet my needs, because I'm the only person who will read the card!
So all in all, I'm trying to decide if I want to broaden my business a bit or if I want to stay solely online. I think selling wholesale will give me an even bigger reason to explore metal stamping more and learn creative techniques for creating items no one else has made around the area. I would also have an opportunity to travel more and get out of the house.
I think this one is a decision for me to speak with God about... Let's just see what He has to say about this... :)
Lately, I've honestly just been in a cranky mood. I think I'm in a funk with selling my items and making them, and it's hard to snap out of it. I'm almost positive that most of my "blah-ness" is due to the fact that I make everything at home, sell everything from home, and ship everything from home. So where does that leave me? Always at home, constantly. A LOT.
Don't get me wrong: I LOVE being at my house more than anything. But occasionally a Sunday night will roll around where I wish time would stop for just a little while so my normal weekly routine could wait just a tiny bit longer to come again.
Well on a different note:
I'm kind of stuck in a rut with my shop. I've struggled over the past few months, mainly from March until now, trying to find my style, my niche, and myself all at the same time. I LOVE making new things and hearing compliments and comments about my work! So, I'm trying to decide exactly where to go from here.
Right now, I'm about to start focusing on the upcoming Christmas Holidays, and making gifts and items during the busy season! I need to have a MAJOR plan to put into place after Christmas when everyone is sick of shopping and broke as a joke from buying gifts. I'm looking into several different options, and I'm trying to see which ones fit nicely into my tiny budget area. Here are a few of my options.
I can continue to sell solely online and to friends. Besides my Etsy Shop sales, this is mainly that I'm doing right now. As I've said in earlier posts, Etsy and Facebook are two completely different selling atmospheres, and do better in different areas in both shops. Jewelry is better on Facebook and paintings and housewares sell better on Etsy.
I can start traveling and selling wholesale items to different shops and boutiques. I have had three offers to purchase and then sell my jewelry from three local shops, but I still haven't traveled down that road as of right now. The offers are still available, and I have a little time to decide.
I know that I'm still struggling to make an organized inventory system, and I still have a few kinks to work out. When I first started making jewelry, I would make a few items here and there, but nothing major. Now, I have a HUGE collection of supplies, tooks, and teeny tiny pieces, which I have neatly organized in plastic containers and a HUGE Tiered Tackle Box with a million slots full of beads. That's not where the problem was/is.
The hard part is filing and organizing the finished pieces. I had to develop a system to keep track of each piece, the date, where it is listed, etc. I've finally started consistently naming each completed piece of jewelry, and I'm currently working to create a manageable paper trail with all of my information and create "Collections." Before I can even think about selling to actual shops, I have to finish my inventory count, organize and name all of my pieces, know how many pieces I have the capabilities to make, etc.
I have to say, though, it would be nice to have like... say ten shops that purchased wholesale from my collections. Ten consistent shops to start out with. And I would have all of their contact info ORGANIZED neatly in my business files. When they place an order, I make the pieces and deliver the finished inventory to them, which they then purchase from me. Then I have a set date that I make contact, preferably in person, with the owner again to see if they are interested in making any more purchases, and to let them see any new pieces and accessories. Ten Shops doesn't seem too outrageous, if I already have three interested. I just don't want to jump into something before I think it out, or before I'm completely organized.
Kind of like how I first started out with no inventory system in mind? Now any of the pieces I made in the beginning that did not sell yet are not inventoried or saved in my computer according to the system I created. Once those pieces are sold, I will be able to have everything finalized.
Item # 0911E0001 is one example:
09= September
11= Year (2011)
E= Earrings
0001= 1st pair created that month
This still doesn't sort each piece according to color, so I'm working on that area as well. Every single finished piece or pair has (or will have) an index card. On the top of the index card is the Item # just like the above number. Also on the card, in the lined space, is a list of every material or piece used to create the piece/pair, my cost, the time it took to make each piece/pair, IF it is a piece to a set and if so I'll list the other Item #'s for those pieces as well, the selling price, the date of creation, the date listed online, and the date sold (IF Sold already), and anything else I want to list. Each index card is filed in numerical order with like pieces.
It may sounds tedious and confusing, but remember what I have to remind myself of all the time when I Start to feel overwhelmed: I created the system. I decide what goes on the card and where. I can manipulate the card to meet my needs, because I'm the only person who will read the card!
So all in all, I'm trying to decide if I want to broaden my business a bit or if I want to stay solely online. I think selling wholesale will give me an even bigger reason to explore metal stamping more and learn creative techniques for creating items no one else has made around the area. I would also have an opportunity to travel more and get out of the house.
I think this one is a decision for me to speak with God about... Let's just see what He has to say about this... :)
Saturday, June 04, 2011
God Has An Amazing Sense of Humor! MUST READ and SHARE!
Currently, it is a June Saturday night in Alabama. For those who do not know what means, let me show you what it means to live in Alabama during the hottest time of the year...
If you have never visited Alabama during one of our "Scorcher Summers," you really haven't known true heat and exhaustion. Some areas of the United States are comparibly hot with similar temperatures, but Alabama has a special annoying ingredient that God failed to sprinkle on those fortunate comfortable areas: HUMIDITY - the only thing powerful enough to demolish any remnant of Salon Over-Prices Frizz Control Hair Gel.
UGH!
On a slightly different, more serious note... (And PLEASE share with friends and family!)
I have GOT to tell you what has been going on in my crazy life! I really don't know why, but God has taken a special interest and has been spending a little bit more time with me lately. I must add that He's making me feel kinda special. I had an experience the morning of April 27, 2011 with God, and within less than 15 minutes, my entire outlook on life and my choices changed drastically. I will share my special experience with you in a later post, but for now, we'll just pick up where I am right now with God. Just know that it was as simple as forgetting to pay the power bill.
A little bit of my past spiritual information: I was saved and baptised & I asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was seven years old. I grew up in a church in central Alabama called Camellia Baptist Church... Yes, I'm an old Southern Baptist Girl! The first song I ever sang in church was called "Casual Christian" and I sang it on stage in front of the whole church with my oldest best friend, Kristin Autrey, when we were about 6 years old. From that moment on, I took voice lessons and sang in church as often as possible until I turned 18. I was in the choir at church for 14 years, and I was at church almost every Sunday morning and night. I enjoyed church, but I was also at the age where I had a lot of friends at there, so that definitely made church more enjoyable to me at that time.
Even though I knew God and I grew up in His house, only now do I realize that I had no real concept of what being a Christian really meant. I knew the "standard" Bible verses (John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, etc) and I knew the little Bible stories they tell you when you are little (Jonah and the Whale, Noah and the Ark, etc). There was one major disconnect though, and it took me 24 years to make that connection thrive: While I knew the facts, I did not truly understand what the REAL effect God could and would have on your life if you did indeed choose to follow Him.
I knew what He promises us and I knew how He said we should live our lives according to His plan. But I never truly realized and understoon why if indeed you do choose to live in God and follow His will, you will still have pain and hurt. Truth is, God never promised us that he would take all of our pain away forever and let us live a life of complete bliss while on Earth. In fact, God knows that you will indeed suffer on Earth, and some of it will be in His name. This is where I got lost...
I sang for the last time in church just after I turned 18 and graduated high school, and it has all been downhill from there. I can probably count on two hands and two feet how many times I have been to church for "church" reasons. When I graduated, I lived in Tuscaloosa for one semester and went to the University of Alabama. That semester, I believe I went to church two times, and I lived right across from a huge church and right beside the student ministry center, but I still didn't go. I had no interest in waking up early without Mama making me. At the beginning of my second semester in college, I started working at Martin Funeral Home in Clanton, AL. I worked there a little over a year, and I went to church about five times that year. But, I heard about 350 funerals that year, several a week, so I felt like I was in church all the time. So you may think, "Well, great, you were still hearing the good news of the Lord!" Well, yes, I was hearing the good news about my God, and every other God in every other religion. I was attending mortuary school, so I had to take a funeral religion class, on top of all of the funerals I heard. In the class, I learned about funerals and religion from the beginning of time, and things just started to get confusing.
There are people who believe you spend like 3000 years in orbit after you die and people who believe you have to put a coin in your mouth to pay to get into "heaven" and people who won't let you embalm their dead for religious reasons. These three examples are just the beginning of a whole new world I was exposed to. When you sit in a room and listen to a preacher read the same Bible that you have always read and he seems to make it say something different than what your preacher says on Sunday morning, how do you think that would make you feel as a person who is alreadt on shaky religious ground? A little bit shakier right? Well, you can insert commas and make sentences say completely different things, but I know that if God wanted commas in certain sentences, He would have put them in there when he wrote the Bible! He doesn't make mistakes!
Suddenly, the solid beliefs I had been taught all of my life started to seem a little blurry, and I caught myself questioning who's belief was real. When you attend funerals, you are not only hearing about God and Jesus, but you are hearing the real information about what other religions believe happens to you when you die, and that's not really something I want to "hope" I am on the right track about. I was truly confused, but I also had the strangest sensation in my heart. The Bible says you are not supposed to question God, but I felt that throughout this entire process, I had a deal with God. He let me know that I had enough time to figure this out, and He would give me the right amount of time. Never once did I fear that I would die without making my final conclusion, because God was patient with my discovery. Well except that one time at 2 a.m. when I thought someone was breaking into my house to kill me, but turns out it was a wild maneating armadillo...haha. Seriously, I knew in my heart that no matter what, I would always believe what MY Bible says, but I just had to figure out why I believed it, and "Because my parents told me God was real" was no longer applicable in my situation. I needed to learn about God myself.
So, my April 27 "Awakening" was pretty much a miracle in my own life. I was SO so lost... and so miserable. I would have wreaked havoc on my new marriage if I had not been open to ANYTHING to make me actually want to wake up each morning. We had been married a little over one month, and Scott was probably already wondering why in the world he married me. I was miserable, I was making him miserable, and I was just simply... depressed.
What I failed to see is ths: If God hands you a "LIFE" folder with an awful situation or circumstance where you are in pain or you are hurting inside, do not make the mistake of grabbing the folder hastily and running away. If you take the time to accept the folder and genuinely thank Him for what it holds, He will give your the ability to see the HUGE suitcase He has also placed at your feet. What could possibly be in a suitcase that big? In that special suitcase God has placed the specific tools you need to fight this enemy with Him and persevere in that situation. And the best part is that God hand selects those tools just for you, meaning no one else can use them and you must value and protect them always. The pain you felt when you first opened that folder will be demolished when you open this suitcase, but sadly, most people don't take the time for God to sharpen their tools before they ride off into battle alone.
Remember the Bible story about the boy, David, and the giant, Goliath? Now can you imagine some little boy getting up here with his rinky-dink slingshot, trying to find a stone small enough to fit in the little bands, his knees shaking like crazy while this GIANT is threatening his life? And the whole time God is SO calmly telling him to "Chill Out!" and "He's got David's 'back'?" I'd imagine David was probably thinking, "I get that God, I really do and I know you got my back, but Goliath is in FRONT of me at this very moment..." haha. In the end, David had to trust God, and not the kind of trust where he thought, "Ok, I'm going to try to shoot this stone at Goliath, but if in fact God does let me down and I miss the shot, I'm going to kick Goliath in the shin and run!" No, thinking like this would definitely have been easy in a situation like that, but David had to trust God in every single way, with his whole heart. And if I've learned anything lately, I definitely have learned that God knows the difference in half-a-trust and whole-trust in Him... I know this, because He lets me know when I'm not listening. By the way, by trusting God to protect him, David did kill Goliath with one single teeny tiny stone and a slingshot. An old fashioned ancient HANDMADE slingshot. Without one of those fancy hand cushions or sights to aim like all the spoiled sissy boys use now...
(Modern Version: It would be a case of one bullet in the chamber of a Ruger 22 and you have to defeat a T-Rex Dinosoar with that one shot.... Not likely, huh?)
In other words, lets use my scenario: God decided he wanted to give me Multiple Sclerosis, and while that stinks and highly wreaks havoc on my ability to have wonderful high heel wearing days, I still have to take what I am dealt. That's life. At least I still have legs. Personally I worry more about cutting my big toe off, because I heard that's where your balance comes from and I'm such a teeter totter as it is, I would look like a wobbly goober if I didn't have my big toe.... We all have wierd fears though... :)
Often, when people find out they have a debilitating illness or disease, they are angry at God and they wallow around in self pity and pain, constantly asking God why He chose them and whining and complaining and well, basically... freaking out about it. One mistake often made is when sufferers pray, they ask God to heal them and make them better, which is understandable. But, they often fail to ask God for His will to be done in the situation. They do not take the time to ask God to give them the ability to fight the disease and for him to make their hearts peaceful and tell them how they are to fight with Him. I truly think that most people don't ask God for these things, because they don't realize that they can or they truly don't know how. Some people haven't been taught how to pray to God.
One HUGE thing I have realized is that anyone can read the Bible, just like I can go read my old Chemistry book. The problem is that unless God has given them the ability to receive what they read, they won't truly grow from the words they read. There is the division between reading scripture and reading words. You have to listen to God so that he can translate what you read. I never listened to my Chemistry teacher any of the three times I took the class in high school, and I still don't understand the periodic table. I'm kidding around about chemistry, but seriously, don't wake up and think you can open the Bible and read Psalms and then your life will be changed instantly by what you read. You have to WANT to read it, but you also have to TRUST God to open your heart and BELIEVE that God will guide your eyes and your hands. He will indeed show you what to read, but you have to trust that He will. You have to be receptive and curious about what God is telling you. I used to think that I would wake up each motning and actually WANT to read the Bible... Well, I do that each morning and I truly look forward to it, but the road getting there was not as simple as I thought.
Some people look at parents who have had a child pass away, and they can't even allow themselves to think about the pain those parents must be feeling. Having worked numerous funerals and done autopsies on hundreds of infants and children, I have seen my fair share of watching people suffer for reasons they do not understand. Do you remember when two year old Bronner (Cornbread) Burgess, (Rick Burgess's son from the Rick and Bubba show) drowned in the family pool in January 2008? It was a freak accident, but in an instant, an entire family was shattered. Here are a few pictures of the family.
What I find meaningful about this story is what took place at the memorial service for Bronner. Rick Burgess, grieving father to a dead son and husband to a grieving wife, gave his son's eulogy in front of thousands of people. What is so special is that throughout the service, Rick maintained an eery control over his body, his words, his mind, and his heart for the entire time. What you would expect from a situation like that is a father that is so distraught and overcome with grief, calmed only by anxiety medication and, so filled with pain that he cannot possibly even think of his child without sending his mind into total torment. In reality, Rick Burgess turned his pain over to God, and he chose to use this accident as an opportunity to distribute knowledge and information about God's love to thousands of people. Rick truly trusted God with the situation, and when you watch the eulogy video, it is evident that something much higher than manmade capabilities is powering that entire situation. While Rick still felt pain from the situation, God gave Rick the gift of peace. God used Rick as a vessel to carry information to other people, and Rick accepted this challenge. In return, the pain that the non-believer would have in the same situation would be far greater than what God allowed
Rick to feel during that time and the pain he will continue to endure until Rick is joined with Bronner in heaven one day. The point is, Rick actually aleviated the worst part of the pain by giving it back to God.
(*Rick's wife, Sherri Burgess is also standing strong in her faith. You can see her utilizing her gifts by clickin the link below.*)
http://www.thealabamabaptist.org/print-edition-article-detail.php?id_art=11164&pricat_art=1
In other words, God will give you a terrible situation to endure. All you have to do is accept the situation and then give it RIGHT BACK TO HIM in prayer and the peace and strength he will INSTANTLY give you will be far more powerful than any pain you even felt to this point. I promise that He will take your problems back if you just offer them to Him... Every Single Time! That seems like a more than fair bargain if you ask me! As a result of society refusing to share our problems with God, we, yes WE, actually bring an enormous amount of avoidable pain and suffering on ourselves and turn around and blame God for putting us in the situation. God probably just shakes his head and rolls his sparkly eyes and says for the zillionth time, "Child, calm down and GIVE IT TO ME! If you want me to help you, you have to allow me inside your problems."
What I find ironic is the laid back approach God takes to our situation, the patience he exhibits. It's similar to a stubborn wife who is determined to fix the washing machine, knowing full well that her husband could do it much faster and he already knows how to do it. But she's too stubborn to hand over the reigns so she does it the hard way. God takes the approach of the husband saying, "Fine, you want to do it yourself, go right ahead. I've tried to help you, but you won't let me. So you're just going to have to do it the hard way and learn for yourself." Eventually, the wife will hand over the job, but only after she exhausts all possibilities and lays down her pride and admits defeat. And while we are on that topic, why are we wives so hesitant to admit our failures to our husbands? Seriously, what do we think they are going to do if we admit that we are wrong and they are right? My husband, who is genuinely confused about my sudden transformation, would probably have a heart attack and make me repeat my admission of defeat so many times to make sure he heard me clearly that I would just get mad all over again and the whole point would be lost. We may be Christians... but we are still women!!
To Sum It Up: You find yourself in the middle of a painful situation, like you may lose your job. Ok, so you pray and ask God to be with you and your employers as they make the final selection. Ask God to watch over the situation and for His will to be done throughout the process. Rebuke Satan from the situation in the name of God, and he will NOT be allowed to have any impact at all on the situation!
So, you go to work the next morning, and BAM! You...... Still lost your job anyway. Hey Wait!? I thought you prayed about this and God loves you and He wants to give you everything you want and He will answer all of your prayers everyday, right? What?... No. I totally never said that. So before you freak out and have a hissy fit and swear never to pray again, you have to follow through with the rest of the prayer and TRUST what you pray. Ask God to continue to watch over the situation, and tell him that you know He has a plan for your life. Ask Him to open your eyes so that you may see the way He is leading you, Ask not only for Him to give you peace about situation, but ask him to ALSO give your spouse and your family peace. You are a TEAM, and you may be as peaceful as a lamb, but if you are married to someone like, Oh I don't know, Madonna... I'd imagine she's not going to naturally be as peaceful as you are unless you do some serious praying for her. Your spouse needs your prayers too, because they too need to have pace and understanding about the situation.
Ok, now that you have prayed, just watch. Well, that's not totally true, you still have to obey God and live a Christian lifestyle, but don't worry, He will also give your your very old tool bag in that situation too. He's the most reliable friend I have, and sadly, God is the friend that I have most abused, neglected, and hurt in my lifetime. And He still loves me. Always.
Throughout my discovery process, I have had this new desire to read, read, read scripture, devotionals, Bible verses, etc. I am ashamed to admit that on April 27, I had to actually search for my Bible in order to read it. That should show you how long it had been since I cracked it open. As I look at it now, filled with sticky notes, highlights, scribbles, and random pieces or paper marking inspirational readings, I am thankful for the teeny little distance I have traveled since that day. When you are lost and away from God, it seems so so tiring and stressful and debilitating to start from the bottom and build up your relationship with God to where it needs to be. I know what it is like to look at other people and just know in your heart that their mansion in heaven is going to have so much prettier
"bling" on it, because then you sink a little when you imagine your tiny pinestraw hut that God built you on the Sinner's Court. I was satisfied with a tiny little set of wings when I get to heaven, but I was hoping to work out a deal with God so he would let me "bedazzle" them a little so I could have a little shine... At the rate I was going, one of my wings would have been broken and I would have to resort to flying around in circles, flapping constantly without ever gaining any air...When you imagine this highly unrealistic scenario, growing a relationship with God seems hopeless, because everyone else seems to be so far ahead of you, so you convince yourself that you will never catch up with them, so why try? Am I right? That's exactly how I felt for years!
The amazing thing is that the truth is so far from what you are thinking. In one month, I have come farther with God that I have in my entire life. I do not belive "Time" in heaven is anything like it is on Earth, and you have to realize that your relationship with God also travels at a different speed than anything you have ever seen on Earth. He may be in Heaven and you may not know what it looks like yet, but God is so sweet to allow us to have a simple taste of what it must be like there in the way that he forms his relationship with us. You will literally feel yourself almost "float" when you start to realize that everything everyone said was true, and God really does what He says! It's an amazing realization!
On a side note, I have become fascinated with little lambs, because Jesus was always so gentle to them. The pictures I have found just make me all warm inside...
I used to be more hotheaded and stubborn than I am now. I still get angry and upset and grouchy, but I do often choose to pray and ask God to take my anger away right that instant. It's strange, because you still know that you were hurt by the situation, but your heart suddenly doesn't ache quite as bad as it once did. How many times have you been in a situation with your spouse where you jut KNEW that you could NEVER forgive him/her and you guess you would just have to tolerate them for the rest of your life, because you would NEVER forgive them? Well, every time you may think you forgive, but truthfully, if you don't ask God to help you then you are just placing another brick on the wall you build to keep God out of your marriage! Imagine if you asked for God to take away your pain
everytime your husband or wife trampled on your feelings? And imagine if evey time God came to your rescue? Well, guess what? He really truly does. Believe me, if God can calm my temper and make me rational, then He definitely can do the same for you even better. The fact that I can even all myself an irratonal argue-er is a miracle in itself, because I turn into an angry lioness when I'm upset and I used to would eat my prey alive when I was angry.... Yea, lets just don't ask Scott about that! I'm a work in progress...
What I have found is that I have more patience and peace than I have ever known. I am still in pain a lot physically, but I do not ask God to heal me, for I have received more gifts in life since I have been sick than I ever would have accepted if I was healthy. I have a new outlook on life, and I have learned to embrace the challenged of MS. Now don't get me wrong, I still have those low, really low, nights where I cry and I hurt. But, I don't hurt nearly as bad as I used to. My heart doesn't hurt anymore.
Trust me, when you are standing at rock bottom, your feet are never on solid ground. I will forever be thankful that I am one of the blessed ones that chose to help myself out of a pity party depression, and I have learned how to live for the first time in my life! I LOVE it, even with my trials! I have found that my voice has had a certain element added to it that is soothing and it takes over when I start to speak of this experience. I call it my, "Preacher Voice." haha... Words just come out that were once so foreign to me.
To come from where I was to where I am now in my faith in one month is only the work of God himself.
I myself am just learning to grasp the magnitude of all of these new concepts, but it's the easiest learning I have ever done. And you know what I feel like? SMARTER! I know that sounds funny, but I feel like I am suddenly like a freakishly smart genius. I mean, I always knew I was like "So
Incredibly Smart" but Now I am definitely abusing the privilege... haha... like I have found the ticket to happiness, love, life, marriage... Is that not the coolest thing?
One thing keeps sticking out to me, and I have no idea what it means? Maybe someone will read this and make sense of it in their lives. The sentence I keep running over and over in my head is:
"Jesus really loves the children in Heaven." Why do I keep thinking that? I found a couple of pictures that seem to illustrate what I'm thinking.
If you have never visited Alabama during one of our "Scorcher Summers," you really haven't known true heat and exhaustion. Some areas of the United States are comparibly hot with similar temperatures, but Alabama has a special annoying ingredient that God failed to sprinkle on those fortunate comfortable areas: HUMIDITY - the only thing powerful enough to demolish any remnant of Salon Over-Prices Frizz Control Hair Gel.
On a slightly different, more serious note... (And PLEASE share with friends and family!)
I have GOT to tell you what has been going on in my crazy life! I really don't know why, but God has taken a special interest and has been spending a little bit more time with me lately. I must add that He's making me feel kinda special. I had an experience the morning of April 27, 2011 with God, and within less than 15 minutes, my entire outlook on life and my choices changed drastically. I will share my special experience with you in a later post, but for now, we'll just pick up where I am right now with God. Just know that it was as simple as forgetting to pay the power bill.
A little bit of my past spiritual information: I was saved and baptised & I asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was seven years old. I grew up in a church in central Alabama called Camellia Baptist Church... Yes, I'm an old Southern Baptist Girl! The first song I ever sang in church was called "Casual Christian" and I sang it on stage in front of the whole church with my oldest best friend, Kristin Autrey, when we were about 6 years old. From that moment on, I took voice lessons and sang in church as often as possible until I turned 18. I was in the choir at church for 14 years, and I was at church almost every Sunday morning and night. I enjoyed church, but I was also at the age where I had a lot of friends at there, so that definitely made church more enjoyable to me at that time.
Even though I knew God and I grew up in His house, only now do I realize that I had no real concept of what being a Christian really meant. I knew the "standard" Bible verses (John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, etc) and I knew the little Bible stories they tell you when you are little (Jonah and the Whale, Noah and the Ark, etc). There was one major disconnect though, and it took me 24 years to make that connection thrive: While I knew the facts, I did not truly understand what the REAL effect God could and would have on your life if you did indeed choose to follow Him.
I knew what He promises us and I knew how He said we should live our lives according to His plan. But I never truly realized and understoon why if indeed you do choose to live in God and follow His will, you will still have pain and hurt. Truth is, God never promised us that he would take all of our pain away forever and let us live a life of complete bliss while on Earth. In fact, God knows that you will indeed suffer on Earth, and some of it will be in His name. This is where I got lost...
I sang for the last time in church just after I turned 18 and graduated high school, and it has all been downhill from there. I can probably count on two hands and two feet how many times I have been to church for "church" reasons. When I graduated, I lived in Tuscaloosa for one semester and went to the University of Alabama. That semester, I believe I went to church two times, and I lived right across from a huge church and right beside the student ministry center, but I still didn't go. I had no interest in waking up early without Mama making me. At the beginning of my second semester in college, I started working at Martin Funeral Home in Clanton, AL. I worked there a little over a year, and I went to church about five times that year. But, I heard about 350 funerals that year, several a week, so I felt like I was in church all the time. So you may think, "Well, great, you were still hearing the good news of the Lord!" Well, yes, I was hearing the good news about my God, and every other God in every other religion. I was attending mortuary school, so I had to take a funeral religion class, on top of all of the funerals I heard. In the class, I learned about funerals and religion from the beginning of time, and things just started to get confusing.
There are people who believe you spend like 3000 years in orbit after you die and people who believe you have to put a coin in your mouth to pay to get into "heaven" and people who won't let you embalm their dead for religious reasons. These three examples are just the beginning of a whole new world I was exposed to. When you sit in a room and listen to a preacher read the same Bible that you have always read and he seems to make it say something different than what your preacher says on Sunday morning, how do you think that would make you feel as a person who is alreadt on shaky religious ground? A little bit shakier right? Well, you can insert commas and make sentences say completely different things, but I know that if God wanted commas in certain sentences, He would have put them in there when he wrote the Bible! He doesn't make mistakes!
Suddenly, the solid beliefs I had been taught all of my life started to seem a little blurry, and I caught myself questioning who's belief was real. When you attend funerals, you are not only hearing about God and Jesus, but you are hearing the real information about what other religions believe happens to you when you die, and that's not really something I want to "hope" I am on the right track about. I was truly confused, but I also had the strangest sensation in my heart. The Bible says you are not supposed to question God, but I felt that throughout this entire process, I had a deal with God. He let me know that I had enough time to figure this out, and He would give me the right amount of time. Never once did I fear that I would die without making my final conclusion, because God was patient with my discovery. Well except that one time at 2 a.m. when I thought someone was breaking into my house to kill me, but turns out it was a wild maneating armadillo...haha. Seriously, I knew in my heart that no matter what, I would always believe what MY Bible says, but I just had to figure out why I believed it, and "Because my parents told me God was real" was no longer applicable in my situation. I needed to learn about God myself.
So, my April 27 "Awakening" was pretty much a miracle in my own life. I was SO so lost... and so miserable. I would have wreaked havoc on my new marriage if I had not been open to ANYTHING to make me actually want to wake up each morning. We had been married a little over one month, and Scott was probably already wondering why in the world he married me. I was miserable, I was making him miserable, and I was just simply... depressed.
What I failed to see is ths: If God hands you a "LIFE" folder with an awful situation or circumstance where you are in pain or you are hurting inside, do not make the mistake of grabbing the folder hastily and running away. If you take the time to accept the folder and genuinely thank Him for what it holds, He will give your the ability to see the HUGE suitcase He has also placed at your feet. What could possibly be in a suitcase that big? In that special suitcase God has placed the specific tools you need to fight this enemy with Him and persevere in that situation. And the best part is that God hand selects those tools just for you, meaning no one else can use them and you must value and protect them always. The pain you felt when you first opened that folder will be demolished when you open this suitcase, but sadly, most people don't take the time for God to sharpen their tools before they ride off into battle alone.
Remember the Bible story about the boy, David, and the giant, Goliath? Now can you imagine some little boy getting up here with his rinky-dink slingshot, trying to find a stone small enough to fit in the little bands, his knees shaking like crazy while this GIANT is threatening his life? And the whole time God is SO calmly telling him to "Chill Out!" and "He's got David's 'back'?" I'd imagine David was probably thinking, "I get that God, I really do and I know you got my back, but Goliath is in FRONT of me at this very moment..." haha. In the end, David had to trust God, and not the kind of trust where he thought, "Ok, I'm going to try to shoot this stone at Goliath, but if in fact God does let me down and I miss the shot, I'm going to kick Goliath in the shin and run!" No, thinking like this would definitely have been easy in a situation like that, but David had to trust God in every single way, with his whole heart. And if I've learned anything lately, I definitely have learned that God knows the difference in half-a-trust and whole-trust in Him... I know this, because He lets me know when I'm not listening. By the way, by trusting God to protect him, David did kill Goliath with one single teeny tiny stone and a slingshot. An old fashioned ancient HANDMADE slingshot. Without one of those fancy hand cushions or sights to aim like all the spoiled sissy boys use now...
(Modern Version: It would be a case of one bullet in the chamber of a Ruger 22 and you have to defeat a T-Rex Dinosoar with that one shot.... Not likely, huh?)
In other words, lets use my scenario: God decided he wanted to give me Multiple Sclerosis, and while that stinks and highly wreaks havoc on my ability to have wonderful high heel wearing days, I still have to take what I am dealt. That's life. At least I still have legs. Personally I worry more about cutting my big toe off, because I heard that's where your balance comes from and I'm such a teeter totter as it is, I would look like a wobbly goober if I didn't have my big toe.... We all have wierd fears though... :)
Often, when people find out they have a debilitating illness or disease, they are angry at God and they wallow around in self pity and pain, constantly asking God why He chose them and whining and complaining and well, basically... freaking out about it. One mistake often made is when sufferers pray, they ask God to heal them and make them better, which is understandable. But, they often fail to ask God for His will to be done in the situation. They do not take the time to ask God to give them the ability to fight the disease and for him to make their hearts peaceful and tell them how they are to fight with Him. I truly think that most people don't ask God for these things, because they don't realize that they can or they truly don't know how. Some people haven't been taught how to pray to God.
One HUGE thing I have realized is that anyone can read the Bible, just like I can go read my old Chemistry book. The problem is that unless God has given them the ability to receive what they read, they won't truly grow from the words they read. There is the division between reading scripture and reading words. You have to listen to God so that he can translate what you read. I never listened to my Chemistry teacher any of the three times I took the class in high school, and I still don't understand the periodic table. I'm kidding around about chemistry, but seriously, don't wake up and think you can open the Bible and read Psalms and then your life will be changed instantly by what you read. You have to WANT to read it, but you also have to TRUST God to open your heart and BELIEVE that God will guide your eyes and your hands. He will indeed show you what to read, but you have to trust that He will. You have to be receptive and curious about what God is telling you. I used to think that I would wake up each motning and actually WANT to read the Bible... Well, I do that each morning and I truly look forward to it, but the road getting there was not as simple as I thought.
Some people look at parents who have had a child pass away, and they can't even allow themselves to think about the pain those parents must be feeling. Having worked numerous funerals and done autopsies on hundreds of infants and children, I have seen my fair share of watching people suffer for reasons they do not understand. Do you remember when two year old Bronner (Cornbread) Burgess, (Rick Burgess's son from the Rick and Bubba show) drowned in the family pool in January 2008? It was a freak accident, but in an instant, an entire family was shattered. Here are a few pictures of the family.
What I find meaningful about this story is what took place at the memorial service for Bronner. Rick Burgess, grieving father to a dead son and husband to a grieving wife, gave his son's eulogy in front of thousands of people. What is so special is that throughout the service, Rick maintained an eery control over his body, his words, his mind, and his heart for the entire time. What you would expect from a situation like that is a father that is so distraught and overcome with grief, calmed only by anxiety medication and, so filled with pain that he cannot possibly even think of his child without sending his mind into total torment. In reality, Rick Burgess turned his pain over to God, and he chose to use this accident as an opportunity to distribute knowledge and information about God's love to thousands of people. Rick truly trusted God with the situation, and when you watch the eulogy video, it is evident that something much higher than manmade capabilities is powering that entire situation. While Rick still felt pain from the situation, God gave Rick the gift of peace. God used Rick as a vessel to carry information to other people, and Rick accepted this challenge. In return, the pain that the non-believer would have in the same situation would be far greater than what God allowed
Rick to feel during that time and the pain he will continue to endure until Rick is joined with Bronner in heaven one day. The point is, Rick actually aleviated the worst part of the pain by giving it back to God.
(*Rick's wife, Sherri Burgess is also standing strong in her faith. You can see her utilizing her gifts by clickin the link below.*)
http://www.thealabamabaptist.org/print-edition-article-detail.php?id_art=11164&pricat_art=1
In other words, God will give you a terrible situation to endure. All you have to do is accept the situation and then give it RIGHT BACK TO HIM in prayer and the peace and strength he will INSTANTLY give you will be far more powerful than any pain you even felt to this point. I promise that He will take your problems back if you just offer them to Him... Every Single Time! That seems like a more than fair bargain if you ask me! As a result of society refusing to share our problems with God, we, yes WE, actually bring an enormous amount of avoidable pain and suffering on ourselves and turn around and blame God for putting us in the situation. God probably just shakes his head and rolls his sparkly eyes and says for the zillionth time, "Child, calm down and GIVE IT TO ME! If you want me to help you, you have to allow me inside your problems."
What I find ironic is the laid back approach God takes to our situation, the patience he exhibits. It's similar to a stubborn wife who is determined to fix the washing machine, knowing full well that her husband could do it much faster and he already knows how to do it. But she's too stubborn to hand over the reigns so she does it the hard way. God takes the approach of the husband saying, "Fine, you want to do it yourself, go right ahead. I've tried to help you, but you won't let me. So you're just going to have to do it the hard way and learn for yourself." Eventually, the wife will hand over the job, but only after she exhausts all possibilities and lays down her pride and admits defeat. And while we are on that topic, why are we wives so hesitant to admit our failures to our husbands? Seriously, what do we think they are going to do if we admit that we are wrong and they are right? My husband, who is genuinely confused about my sudden transformation, would probably have a heart attack and make me repeat my admission of defeat so many times to make sure he heard me clearly that I would just get mad all over again and the whole point would be lost. We may be Christians... but we are still women!!
To Sum It Up: You find yourself in the middle of a painful situation, like you may lose your job. Ok, so you pray and ask God to be with you and your employers as they make the final selection. Ask God to watch over the situation and for His will to be done throughout the process. Rebuke Satan from the situation in the name of God, and he will NOT be allowed to have any impact at all on the situation!
So, you go to work the next morning, and BAM! You...... Still lost your job anyway. Hey Wait!? I thought you prayed about this and God loves you and He wants to give you everything you want and He will answer all of your prayers everyday, right? What?... No. I totally never said that. So before you freak out and have a hissy fit and swear never to pray again, you have to follow through with the rest of the prayer and TRUST what you pray. Ask God to continue to watch over the situation, and tell him that you know He has a plan for your life. Ask Him to open your eyes so that you may see the way He is leading you, Ask not only for Him to give you peace about situation, but ask him to ALSO give your spouse and your family peace. You are a TEAM, and you may be as peaceful as a lamb, but if you are married to someone like, Oh I don't know, Madonna... I'd imagine she's not going to naturally be as peaceful as you are unless you do some serious praying for her. Your spouse needs your prayers too, because they too need to have pace and understanding about the situation.
Ok, now that you have prayed, just watch. Well, that's not totally true, you still have to obey God and live a Christian lifestyle, but don't worry, He will also give your your very old tool bag in that situation too. He's the most reliable friend I have, and sadly, God is the friend that I have most abused, neglected, and hurt in my lifetime. And He still loves me. Always.
Throughout my discovery process, I have had this new desire to read, read, read scripture, devotionals, Bible verses, etc. I am ashamed to admit that on April 27, I had to actually search for my Bible in order to read it. That should show you how long it had been since I cracked it open. As I look at it now, filled with sticky notes, highlights, scribbles, and random pieces or paper marking inspirational readings, I am thankful for the teeny little distance I have traveled since that day. When you are lost and away from God, it seems so so tiring and stressful and debilitating to start from the bottom and build up your relationship with God to where it needs to be. I know what it is like to look at other people and just know in your heart that their mansion in heaven is going to have so much prettier
"bling" on it, because then you sink a little when you imagine your tiny pinestraw hut that God built you on the Sinner's Court. I was satisfied with a tiny little set of wings when I get to heaven, but I was hoping to work out a deal with God so he would let me "bedazzle" them a little so I could have a little shine... At the rate I was going, one of my wings would have been broken and I would have to resort to flying around in circles, flapping constantly without ever gaining any air...When you imagine this highly unrealistic scenario, growing a relationship with God seems hopeless, because everyone else seems to be so far ahead of you, so you convince yourself that you will never catch up with them, so why try? Am I right? That's exactly how I felt for years!
The amazing thing is that the truth is so far from what you are thinking. In one month, I have come farther with God that I have in my entire life. I do not belive "Time" in heaven is anything like it is on Earth, and you have to realize that your relationship with God also travels at a different speed than anything you have ever seen on Earth. He may be in Heaven and you may not know what it looks like yet, but God is so sweet to allow us to have a simple taste of what it must be like there in the way that he forms his relationship with us. You will literally feel yourself almost "float" when you start to realize that everything everyone said was true, and God really does what He says! It's an amazing realization!
On a side note, I have become fascinated with little lambs, because Jesus was always so gentle to them. The pictures I have found just make me all warm inside...
I used to be more hotheaded and stubborn than I am now. I still get angry and upset and grouchy, but I do often choose to pray and ask God to take my anger away right that instant. It's strange, because you still know that you were hurt by the situation, but your heart suddenly doesn't ache quite as bad as it once did. How many times have you been in a situation with your spouse where you jut KNEW that you could NEVER forgive him/her and you guess you would just have to tolerate them for the rest of your life, because you would NEVER forgive them? Well, every time you may think you forgive, but truthfully, if you don't ask God to help you then you are just placing another brick on the wall you build to keep God out of your marriage! Imagine if you asked for God to take away your pain
everytime your husband or wife trampled on your feelings? And imagine if evey time God came to your rescue? Well, guess what? He really truly does. Believe me, if God can calm my temper and make me rational, then He definitely can do the same for you even better. The fact that I can even all myself an irratonal argue-er is a miracle in itself, because I turn into an angry lioness when I'm upset and I used to would eat my prey alive when I was angry.... Yea, lets just don't ask Scott about that! I'm a work in progress...
What I have found is that I have more patience and peace than I have ever known. I am still in pain a lot physically, but I do not ask God to heal me, for I have received more gifts in life since I have been sick than I ever would have accepted if I was healthy. I have a new outlook on life, and I have learned to embrace the challenged of MS. Now don't get me wrong, I still have those low, really low, nights where I cry and I hurt. But, I don't hurt nearly as bad as I used to. My heart doesn't hurt anymore.
Trust me, when you are standing at rock bottom, your feet are never on solid ground. I will forever be thankful that I am one of the blessed ones that chose to help myself out of a pity party depression, and I have learned how to live for the first time in my life! I LOVE it, even with my trials! I have found that my voice has had a certain element added to it that is soothing and it takes over when I start to speak of this experience. I call it my, "Preacher Voice." haha... Words just come out that were once so foreign to me.
To come from where I was to where I am now in my faith in one month is only the work of God himself.
I myself am just learning to grasp the magnitude of all of these new concepts, but it's the easiest learning I have ever done. And you know what I feel like? SMARTER! I know that sounds funny, but I feel like I am suddenly like a freakishly smart genius. I mean, I always knew I was like "So
Incredibly Smart" but Now I am definitely abusing the privilege... haha... like I have found the ticket to happiness, love, life, marriage... Is that not the coolest thing?
One thing keeps sticking out to me, and I have no idea what it means? Maybe someone will read this and make sense of it in their lives. The sentence I keep running over and over in my head is:
"Jesus really loves the children in Heaven." Why do I keep thinking that? I found a couple of pictures that seem to illustrate what I'm thinking.
I genuinely hope someone takes something special away from this post, and I will continue to post on my progress. I would like for you to travel with me during the week as I learn more and go through my daily devotionals. We will definitely be learning together, because I am baffled by what I learn each day. I hope it never quits... tell me what you think! Say your prayers tonight!!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Loryn Brown... You Will Always Be Loved!
Well here we are, two days after the huge tornado tore across the South. With fatality numbers rising and new "road blocks" every day, I would have expected many people to say the famous, "Oh my gosh, that's awful" and go back to their lives. But you know what? That is exactly the opposite of what is occuring across our state.
There has been more people pull together in the last two days than I have ever seen in my lifetime. People who have never met, previous enemies, and people we will never know have given their time, money, supplies, blood, prayers, and assistance to people they will never know. The only way to explain such selflessness is to acknowledge that God is definitely walking with each and every one of us right now, even if you do not want to hold his hand. I personally have clung to Him over the past few days more than I ever have, and I specifically was not even devastated by this disaster. But, I need him, and fortunately, He's here with me!
When I heard of a specific fatality of a girl who graduated from Edgewood Academy, Loryn Brown, I automatically did what many of you have done or will do if you did not know her: I looked her up on facebook. From what I can tell, she was the All American Beauty Pageant Winning Surrounded by Friends Great Personality College Student. She was smiling in almost every single picture, and her curly hair was wild and free... something I find beautful in itself.
The last picture of Loryn with the houndstooth shoulder strap is my absolute favorite... There's something about the look on her face and the sparkle in her eye (and her awesome bright white teeth that we all would envy!) that seems to say, "I am so completely happy at this very moment!"
It appears that her mother came to Tuscaloosa not too long ago and they went on a little family photo shoot for a day. I found myself thanking God that they took the time to do that, as many of us rarely do. Those pictures will be cherished by many forever, and they will always have them! Loryn looked identical to her mother, which is where she got her beautiful curls and bright smile. When you look like your mother and you are close to your mother as it seems like she was, there is a special bond... maybe from always hearing, "She's a spitting image of you!" I read in one of her picture comments where someone wrote, "Loryn, you look beautiful." and Loryn's response was this:"Thanks! You know I get it from my mom!" Breaks my heart... You know that could have just as easily have been you or me, and for many, it almost was!
Below is the link to the news clip of Loryn's parent's that aired last night.
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=14545445
I've found myself hoping that she didn't know quite how bad it was, and praying that she didn't suffer. I know how scared I was in my closet and I didn't have a tornado outside my house. What I felt when I looked at her picture was sadness mixed with fear, because of this: When she smiled so big for the camera, she had no idea that her life would be taken so early. She thought she had forever, just like we think we do. One of her picture captions even says, "You can't replace this!" And you know what? She was exactly right. Having done thousands of autopsies, I've often caught myself wondering what each person would do different if they knew their time to be called to heaven would be soon.. Would they change anything? Would she have changed anything? Would we change anything? What would it be?
We are all fortunate to have the opportunity to change things in our lives from this point on, because our fragile lives were spared! We are still alive, and we have to rethink how we all live. The story of our lives is determines by the compilation of each an every day we live and our actions. I have the urge to contact old friends and family members that I often think of but do not take the time to let them know... how long would it take? A few extra minutes? I received a message a few years ago from a fellow classmate, Justin Rye. All it said was, "Hey girl. I just wanted to see how you have been doing lately." I checked the message and realized I was late for class and I decided I would write back a little later... two days later, he passed away. I never wrote him back. We were not close friends, but we WERE friends and that's what matters now... And I will always wish I had let him know that instead of deciding to write back later. Tuscaloosa RIGHT NOW should show us all that we may not have later!
My husband is heading home for a temporary stay as I type, and I am so thankful that God kept him safe while he dealt with the fatalities there. From my own experience working with death and autopsies and mass fatalities, when you come home from an area of devastation surrounded by death constantly for an extended amount of time, the transformation to ordinary life is so stressful. It is like temporary Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and you don't even realize it until it hits you hard! I worked a mass murder a while back, and it took me days to relax and ease back to being normal, because you play everything over and over all the time, and then someone asks you what you want for dinner. Dinner? Why would you be talking about dinner when these people are suffering? That's what you think, but unless you have been there, you would not understand.
While I have worked situations very similar, I have not been with him during this experience, therefore I do not understand fully now. Please pray that God gives me the ability to comfort him when he comes home. We work so well together because we both have such a strong ability to block out and deal with death and trauma, but we do this together. For those who do not know, our relationship started because we work together. So from the beginning, we have been a partner to each other, and we have leaned on each other through each difficult day. I've done autopsies on children hundreds of times, and he was right there holding my up in his own little way, letting me know that he truly knows what emotions I had to learn to deal with. In fact, he taught me how to deal with death... He taught me different coping mechanisms and how to be successful. He physically trained me in a lot of areas at my job (before we started dating), and his mentality was, "I'm going to make you better than I ever was." Where I am weak, he is strong and visa versa. He is the strongest man I know when dealing with this kind of situation, but a situation like this can bring you to your knees really quickly.... and this time it's up to me to catch him when he falls. This is the first time we have been apart on scenes, so this is a new area for me. We are a team, but have to learn how to play my position this time from the sidelines.
Now multiply that by thousands. That's how many people are dealing with these emotions. Think about how many parents are picking up their college children who rode out the tornado, and the are devastated and traumatized. What do you say to your child in a time like this? While you are thankful they survived, you cannot understand what emotions they are experiencing. Pray harder for those people, because they are not acclamated with death as we are. This is our life because of our career in forensics, but so many people have not been trained to deal with this emotion and it is SO hard! Pray that God gives them peace... And I know he will.
I love you all!
There has been more people pull together in the last two days than I have ever seen in my lifetime. People who have never met, previous enemies, and people we will never know have given their time, money, supplies, blood, prayers, and assistance to people they will never know. The only way to explain such selflessness is to acknowledge that God is definitely walking with each and every one of us right now, even if you do not want to hold his hand. I personally have clung to Him over the past few days more than I ever have, and I specifically was not even devastated by this disaster. But, I need him, and fortunately, He's here with me!
When I heard of a specific fatality of a girl who graduated from Edgewood Academy, Loryn Brown, I automatically did what many of you have done or will do if you did not know her: I looked her up on facebook. From what I can tell, she was the All American Beauty Pageant Winning Surrounded by Friends Great Personality College Student. She was smiling in almost every single picture, and her curly hair was wild and free... something I find beautful in itself.
The last picture of Loryn with the houndstooth shoulder strap is my absolute favorite... There's something about the look on her face and the sparkle in her eye (and her awesome bright white teeth that we all would envy!) that seems to say, "I am so completely happy at this very moment!"
It appears that her mother came to Tuscaloosa not too long ago and they went on a little family photo shoot for a day. I found myself thanking God that they took the time to do that, as many of us rarely do. Those pictures will be cherished by many forever, and they will always have them! Loryn looked identical to her mother, which is where she got her beautiful curls and bright smile. When you look like your mother and you are close to your mother as it seems like she was, there is a special bond... maybe from always hearing, "She's a spitting image of you!" I read in one of her picture comments where someone wrote, "Loryn, you look beautiful." and Loryn's response was this:"Thanks! You know I get it from my mom!" Breaks my heart... You know that could have just as easily have been you or me, and for many, it almost was!
Below is the link to the news clip of Loryn's parent's that aired last night.
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=14545445
I've found myself hoping that she didn't know quite how bad it was, and praying that she didn't suffer. I know how scared I was in my closet and I didn't have a tornado outside my house. What I felt when I looked at her picture was sadness mixed with fear, because of this: When she smiled so big for the camera, she had no idea that her life would be taken so early. She thought she had forever, just like we think we do. One of her picture captions even says, "You can't replace this!" And you know what? She was exactly right. Having done thousands of autopsies, I've often caught myself wondering what each person would do different if they knew their time to be called to heaven would be soon.. Would they change anything? Would she have changed anything? Would we change anything? What would it be?
We are all fortunate to have the opportunity to change things in our lives from this point on, because our fragile lives were spared! We are still alive, and we have to rethink how we all live. The story of our lives is determines by the compilation of each an every day we live and our actions. I have the urge to contact old friends and family members that I often think of but do not take the time to let them know... how long would it take? A few extra minutes? I received a message a few years ago from a fellow classmate, Justin Rye. All it said was, "Hey girl. I just wanted to see how you have been doing lately." I checked the message and realized I was late for class and I decided I would write back a little later... two days later, he passed away. I never wrote him back. We were not close friends, but we WERE friends and that's what matters now... And I will always wish I had let him know that instead of deciding to write back later. Tuscaloosa RIGHT NOW should show us all that we may not have later!
My husband is heading home for a temporary stay as I type, and I am so thankful that God kept him safe while he dealt with the fatalities there. From my own experience working with death and autopsies and mass fatalities, when you come home from an area of devastation surrounded by death constantly for an extended amount of time, the transformation to ordinary life is so stressful. It is like temporary Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and you don't even realize it until it hits you hard! I worked a mass murder a while back, and it took me days to relax and ease back to being normal, because you play everything over and over all the time, and then someone asks you what you want for dinner. Dinner? Why would you be talking about dinner when these people are suffering? That's what you think, but unless you have been there, you would not understand.
While I have worked situations very similar, I have not been with him during this experience, therefore I do not understand fully now. Please pray that God gives me the ability to comfort him when he comes home. We work so well together because we both have such a strong ability to block out and deal with death and trauma, but we do this together. For those who do not know, our relationship started because we work together. So from the beginning, we have been a partner to each other, and we have leaned on each other through each difficult day. I've done autopsies on children hundreds of times, and he was right there holding my up in his own little way, letting me know that he truly knows what emotions I had to learn to deal with. In fact, he taught me how to deal with death... He taught me different coping mechanisms and how to be successful. He physically trained me in a lot of areas at my job (before we started dating), and his mentality was, "I'm going to make you better than I ever was." Where I am weak, he is strong and visa versa. He is the strongest man I know when dealing with this kind of situation, but a situation like this can bring you to your knees really quickly.... and this time it's up to me to catch him when he falls. This is the first time we have been apart on scenes, so this is a new area for me. We are a team, but have to learn how to play my position this time from the sidelines.
Now multiply that by thousands. That's how many people are dealing with these emotions. Think about how many parents are picking up their college children who rode out the tornado, and the are devastated and traumatized. What do you say to your child in a time like this? While you are thankful they survived, you cannot understand what emotions they are experiencing. Pray harder for those people, because they are not acclamated with death as we are. This is our life because of our career in forensics, but so many people have not been trained to deal with this emotion and it is SO hard! Pray that God gives them peace... And I know he will.
I love you all!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Tornado Will Not Win!!
Hello friends!
As you already know, several horrible tornados ripped through Alabama last night as we all watched helplessly from the comfort of our own homes. We may have been uncomfortable with our kids and pets in our cramped "safe place," but now, if you are like me, you are continuously thanking God that He gave you a safe place to hide from the storm.
Fortunately, we all have the opportunity to assist and help those who were not as fortunate as ourselves, and I pray that each and every one of you find it in your hearts to help in the way that God leads you to help. The minor things we take for granted each day are so very needed by MANY people, and if you take a few minutes to look, I am positive you can find an extra blanket, pillow, or bottle of Shampoo that will never be missed. But, before you look, take a moment to pray and ask God that He tells you what He needs you to send, that He will show you the item that will make a huge difference to another family. Then, pray for him to open your eyes so that you may know what he is saying.
This is a time when we cannot be selfish. We often save many items "just in case" we need them at a future time. Well, THIS is that time, and the reason you saved them is NOW. It is not another country or even another state that needs your assistance. No, this time, it is your neighbor, your friends, and your own cities that need help. Don't make them ask, and cheerfully give what you can! It could just as easily have been you or me in this situation, and I would hope that someone would help me just the same.
A good friend of mine and her family lost everything they own last night. By the grace of God they are safe and together. They came out of their house and went into their stom shelter. Minutes later, they came out of their storm shelter and the only thing left was 4 trees and the foundation of their house. The flowers in the flower beds were still in their perfect little places, but their cars still have not been located. They literally have the clothes on their backs, and every video, every memory, every item they owned is not ruined, it s not dirty, it is GONE! No where to be found at all. Now multiply this by thousands...
Due to the fact that I have been very sick lately, I cannot assist physically in the clean up there. Thankfully, God has answered my prayers, and the medication I am currently taking has made an improvement that allows me to stay awake and alert! Usually, this is But, my mother and I are driving two car loads of supplies to Tuscaloosa this afternoon to help. I have items for my friends, but we are also bringing items to anyone who needs them. Just being there may let them know that they are not alone. If you have anything you can give, please let me know though facebook. I will be driving back to Montgomery tomorrow to pick up another load to bring there, so if you still have time! But, I need to be notified if you have items, because time will be limited and in order to get everything theren safely, we can't drive all over the county to pick up items from each person. I'll arrange everything if you have ANYTHING!
When I was gathering items in my house, I thought that I had better read my devotional journal first. I said a prayer that God would show me which part of the journal to read to show guide me where I am to go to assist, and He told me to open randomly. This is what was written on the page:
He leads us on by paths we did not know;
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow;
Though oft we faint and falter on the way;
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;
Yet when the clouds are gone;
We know He leads us on.
Now if that doesn't tell you that God was listening to me, read what was written underneath that:
Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your eyes would look on. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.
My prayer was answered instantly!
My sweet husband, Scott, is headed to Tuscaloosa as we speak. He is in charge of the Department of Forensics Mass Disaster Team, so unfortunately as you all know what "forensics" means, he is going solely to work with the people who lost their lives last night. As in any disaster situation, the longer deceased bodies are outside, the risk of infection and disease grows. Please pray that he will be a solid leader for the disaster team, and that God will watch over them as they do the worst job imaginable. I am honored to be married to the man who is in charge of this difficult task, and I know that he will use his skill and knowledge to be the most effective leader that he can be.
Many days I have prayed that his phone would not ring to call him into the destruction, and I have worried about his safety in the event that he was called out. Fortunately, he his team has not been activated until now. What I found was that when I was helping him pack supplies this morning for his mission, I did not feel nervous our scared, but I felt pride and peace. God will watch over him and his team, and I trust this more than I ever have. Before he left, I told him I felt like we needed to say a prayer together, and he agreed. Leaning in he drivers side door of his car, I wrapped my arms around his neck, told him loved him, and I started speaking to God for both of us. I asked to wrap His arms around my husband and keep hm safe from harm. I asked him to place it on Scott's heart where he needs him to be, and show him who he needs to help. I asked God to allow Scott to be receptive and give him the patient ability to listen to what God is trying to say, regardess of other instructions.
Before he left, Scott reminded me that his job was to deal with the fatalities while he was there, and he would not be able to pass out supplies and he reminded me that he would most likely be inside a morgue most of the time. This made me smile, to which he looked confused... I said, "Scott, you don't know what your job is right now. In this situation, you do not get to choose our job. As soon as I said that prayer, you lost control of what your plan is,and your put it in Gods hands. Fortunately, everything is out of your control." and with that I turned and walked back into the house.
This morning I was headed to the beach to sleep for the next four days. But, the beach is not where I am supposed to go. There are SO many people who have given their time to help those in need. Please also pray that God will direct them where to go.
I read a story a while back that I will share with you. I read that on Septembe 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks occured, there was a retired marine that lived in Connecticut. He saw the devastation on television, and he immediately knew he had to help. He prayed that God would show him who he needed to help and show him where to go to find the victims and make the most difference. He put on his old marine uniform, packed a bag, put the top down on his convertible, and drove as fast as he could to the twin towers. Everything was calculated as he knew that if he was a civilian, the road blocks would not grant him access into te city, but so many military forces had been activated that they would now know he was retired. They simply looked into his convertible, saw the marine uniform, and granted him immediate access. When he got to ground zero, he saw the officers and people instructing workers where to look. He decided he would go search in the area that had been designated as "clear" and off limits. He said it was if it was called into that direction. He ran into a man who had a very similar idea, and they searched together for survivors, and this was unknown to any other people searching, as they were in an uncharted area. After looking and yelling for survivors, they heard a tiny yell. Slowly, the moved debris for hours and hours, until they uncovered what was an elevator full of survivors. Survivors that would have been missed if he had ignored God's instructions and guidance. Two people out of both of those buildings may seem small, but I bet when those few survivors tuck their kids in at night or kiss their wives good morning, they thank God everyday that the marine had a Christian heart.
So, I'm going to go now so I can finish packing. I hope you took something away from this, and I pray that you see the truth. We are ALL family, but some of our family is hurt... Can you help?
As you already know, several horrible tornados ripped through Alabama last night as we all watched helplessly from the comfort of our own homes. We may have been uncomfortable with our kids and pets in our cramped "safe place," but now, if you are like me, you are continuously thanking God that He gave you a safe place to hide from the storm.
Fortunately, we all have the opportunity to assist and help those who were not as fortunate as ourselves, and I pray that each and every one of you find it in your hearts to help in the way that God leads you to help. The minor things we take for granted each day are so very needed by MANY people, and if you take a few minutes to look, I am positive you can find an extra blanket, pillow, or bottle of Shampoo that will never be missed. But, before you look, take a moment to pray and ask God that He tells you what He needs you to send, that He will show you the item that will make a huge difference to another family. Then, pray for him to open your eyes so that you may know what he is saying.
This is a time when we cannot be selfish. We often save many items "just in case" we need them at a future time. Well, THIS is that time, and the reason you saved them is NOW. It is not another country or even another state that needs your assistance. No, this time, it is your neighbor, your friends, and your own cities that need help. Don't make them ask, and cheerfully give what you can! It could just as easily have been you or me in this situation, and I would hope that someone would help me just the same.
A good friend of mine and her family lost everything they own last night. By the grace of God they are safe and together. They came out of their house and went into their stom shelter. Minutes later, they came out of their storm shelter and the only thing left was 4 trees and the foundation of their house. The flowers in the flower beds were still in their perfect little places, but their cars still have not been located. They literally have the clothes on their backs, and every video, every memory, every item they owned is not ruined, it s not dirty, it is GONE! No where to be found at all. Now multiply this by thousands...
Due to the fact that I have been very sick lately, I cannot assist physically in the clean up there. Thankfully, God has answered my prayers, and the medication I am currently taking has made an improvement that allows me to stay awake and alert! Usually, this is But, my mother and I are driving two car loads of supplies to Tuscaloosa this afternoon to help. I have items for my friends, but we are also bringing items to anyone who needs them. Just being there may let them know that they are not alone. If you have anything you can give, please let me know though facebook. I will be driving back to Montgomery tomorrow to pick up another load to bring there, so if you still have time! But, I need to be notified if you have items, because time will be limited and in order to get everything theren safely, we can't drive all over the county to pick up items from each person. I'll arrange everything if you have ANYTHING!
When I was gathering items in my house, I thought that I had better read my devotional journal first. I said a prayer that God would show me which part of the journal to read to show guide me where I am to go to assist, and He told me to open randomly. This is what was written on the page:
He leads us on by paths we did not know;
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow;
Though oft we faint and falter on the way;
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;
Yet when the clouds are gone;
We know He leads us on.
Now if that doesn't tell you that God was listening to me, read what was written underneath that:
Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your eyes would look on. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.
My prayer was answered instantly!
My sweet husband, Scott, is headed to Tuscaloosa as we speak. He is in charge of the Department of Forensics Mass Disaster Team, so unfortunately as you all know what "forensics" means, he is going solely to work with the people who lost their lives last night. As in any disaster situation, the longer deceased bodies are outside, the risk of infection and disease grows. Please pray that he will be a solid leader for the disaster team, and that God will watch over them as they do the worst job imaginable. I am honored to be married to the man who is in charge of this difficult task, and I know that he will use his skill and knowledge to be the most effective leader that he can be.
Many days I have prayed that his phone would not ring to call him into the destruction, and I have worried about his safety in the event that he was called out. Fortunately, he his team has not been activated until now. What I found was that when I was helping him pack supplies this morning for his mission, I did not feel nervous our scared, but I felt pride and peace. God will watch over him and his team, and I trust this more than I ever have. Before he left, I told him I felt like we needed to say a prayer together, and he agreed. Leaning in he drivers side door of his car, I wrapped my arms around his neck, told him loved him, and I started speaking to God for both of us. I asked to wrap His arms around my husband and keep hm safe from harm. I asked him to place it on Scott's heart where he needs him to be, and show him who he needs to help. I asked God to allow Scott to be receptive and give him the patient ability to listen to what God is trying to say, regardess of other instructions.
Before he left, Scott reminded me that his job was to deal with the fatalities while he was there, and he would not be able to pass out supplies and he reminded me that he would most likely be inside a morgue most of the time. This made me smile, to which he looked confused... I said, "Scott, you don't know what your job is right now. In this situation, you do not get to choose our job. As soon as I said that prayer, you lost control of what your plan is,and your put it in Gods hands. Fortunately, everything is out of your control." and with that I turned and walked back into the house.
This morning I was headed to the beach to sleep for the next four days. But, the beach is not where I am supposed to go. There are SO many people who have given their time to help those in need. Please also pray that God will direct them where to go.
I read a story a while back that I will share with you. I read that on Septembe 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks occured, there was a retired marine that lived in Connecticut. He saw the devastation on television, and he immediately knew he had to help. He prayed that God would show him who he needed to help and show him where to go to find the victims and make the most difference. He put on his old marine uniform, packed a bag, put the top down on his convertible, and drove as fast as he could to the twin towers. Everything was calculated as he knew that if he was a civilian, the road blocks would not grant him access into te city, but so many military forces had been activated that they would now know he was retired. They simply looked into his convertible, saw the marine uniform, and granted him immediate access. When he got to ground zero, he saw the officers and people instructing workers where to look. He decided he would go search in the area that had been designated as "clear" and off limits. He said it was if it was called into that direction. He ran into a man who had a very similar idea, and they searched together for survivors, and this was unknown to any other people searching, as they were in an uncharted area. After looking and yelling for survivors, they heard a tiny yell. Slowly, the moved debris for hours and hours, until they uncovered what was an elevator full of survivors. Survivors that would have been missed if he had ignored God's instructions and guidance. Two people out of both of those buildings may seem small, but I bet when those few survivors tuck their kids in at night or kiss their wives good morning, they thank God everyday that the marine had a Christian heart.
So, I'm going to go now so I can finish packing. I hope you took something away from this, and I pray that you see the truth. We are ALL family, but some of our family is hurt... Can you help?
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