Something Neat For Our Troops!!!

I got this in an email from a dear friend of mine. :-)


Something neat that Xerox is doing.

If you go to this web site, www.letssaythanks.com , you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq.

You can ' t pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site.

Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Prayer Requests

Please add these requests to Prayer Request Sunday list --

Alicia - virus

William - His son died in a car accident. Funeral was Wed. His girlfriend was in car also, she is in ICU. I do not know her name but God does. Please remember her and her family also!

Martha- may have had a cyst rupture. Wants pain to leave her body!

Church building program--please pray about our loan!

Pappy - has cancer in liver, lungs, ribs, and spine. Also has tumor which cracked his pelvic bone.


Thank you so much for your prayers!!! I'll post the praise reports when I get them!!! :-)

Our Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone again!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! We got up early and DH started the turkey while me and DS watched the Macy's parade. It was so much fun and, to my surprise , DS enjoyed the parade as much as I did. I had let him in on a little secret that Santa Claus is at the end of the parade so I'm guessing that was the clincher because he had already told us he wasn't interested in the parades... only football!

After our wonderful dinner, we ventured off to Kmart to pick up a gift for DS since the one I ordered did not arrive in time - I still haven't gotten it. :-( I did tell him what the gift was I had ordered so he's having a good time waiting for the mail to run every day! :-)

After we left Kmart, we went to the movie theater and saw "The Bee Movie". It was such a cute movie and a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be.

The next day, DH only had to work for a few hours so we were able to spend the afternoon with my mom and dad. And, yes, I enjoyed my mom's Thanksgiving leftovers! I don't care how old you get or what you've eaten, there is no cooking like Mom's cooking!!! (My mom, anyway!!! LOL)

On Saturday, along with 2 of our nephews, we saw Santa Claus!!! The boys had so much fun with Santa! DH even sat on Santa's lap - I'll post the pics as soon as I get them! LOL

After we saw Santa, we stopped by and picked up a few pizzas. While we waited on the pizza, we stopped in at the pet store next door and got to see turtles, rabbits and lots of fish! After that we went to my sister's and ate pizza while watching Spiderman 3.

The rest of the weekend, we mainly hung out at the house except for church and eating lunch out on Sunday.

This Thanksgiving turned out to be one of the best we've had so far!!! I do hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that the Christmas season will be a joyous one!!! :-)

PRAYER REQUEST SUNDAY

No new requests this week. For a list of prior requests that are we are still praying for, please see:

http://angelamthomas.blogspot.com/2007/11/prayer-request-sunday_18.html#links

http://angelamthomas.blogspot.com/2007/11/prayer-requests.html#links

For more requests, please see: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval/Prayer%2BRequest%2BSunday/

Please take a moment and pray for all of these requests. (I will post updates as soon as I get them.)

PRAISE REPORTS:

Loretta - Dad is doing better!

If you have a prayer request, please leave a comment or email me at thomasjaz3@bellsouth.net with your request. And please be sure to email or leave another comment with any praise reports as well!!!

Thanks!!! :-)

Spirit Of Christmas Award!!!

Amy (Journaling Back To Joy - http://osbornz.net/amy/ ) has awarded me with the Spirit Of Christmas award.

"This award is for those who talk about and show the spirit of Christmas in their blogs.
What is the Spirit of Christmas you ask?
Quite simply it is those that have a generous and giving nature. Those who care about others. Those who have a kind word to say or a broad shoulder to lean on in the times that others need that. Those who display the “Spirit of Christmas”.

I am giving it to five and you should too. Those that have touched your heart with their kind and giving and caring nature."

Thank you, Amy!!! :-)

I would like to award this to:

Lynn @ Eclectic Education http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eclecticeducation/

Tiany @ Less Of Me~More Of Him
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tiany

Valerie @ SOCALVAL-JUSTFORHOMESCHOOLFAMILIES
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval

Tamara @ Training Hearts
http://www.traininghearts.com/blog/

Pam @ Mom's Mutterings
http://homeschoolblogger.com/hip2schoolathome/

To you five, I am so blessed by reading your blogs and am inspired by you!!! :-)


(For more about the Spirit of Christmas award, please go to http://santasmailbox.blogspot.com/2007/09/spirit-of-christmas-award-2_23.html )

Prayer Requests

Please add these to Sunday's Prayer Request list --

Alicia (my sister) - Migraines

Hannah - 14 wks pregnant and is high risk. She has had several miscarriages.

A little boy (not sure of name, but God knows) has just been diagnosed with leukemia.

Also, please be praying for my pastor concerning some decisions he has to make. He will be meeting with several people about our new church building this coming week!!!

PRAISE REPORT -
Linda - A lady we've been praying for was told she might have ovarian cancer. She had surgery to have some cysts removed and no cancer was found!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!

Thanks so much for praying with me!!! If you have any requests, please email (thomasjaz3@bellsouth.net) or leave a comment with request... or praise report!!! :-)

Prayer Request Sunday

My mom, Sally - dealing with depression and has been diagnosed with diabetes. May have to go on medication for diabetes.
My sister, Alicia --- To have a baby. No luck for the last 4 yrs.
My aunt, Thomassene --- has herniated disc and may need surgery. Also over the past week has been dealing with vertigo!
Nancy - is still very sick. Doctors are saying it still may be lyme disease.
Rodney Cain -- is a diabetic, part of his foot has already been amputated. May need to have whole foot amputated. Also is having kidney problems. Please continue to pray for him.
Harriet - depression esp this time of year from deaths in the family.
Rita Moore - her husband fell and broke hip in 4 places last week. Please continue to cover this family.
Betty Whitlow -- has appt. with Heart Doctor on Dec 27.
Loretta--Dad still in hospital.
Our Church - building a new church building, praying God's continued favor over this project. Please continue to cover this in prayer!!!
Angela (me) - As I try to lose weight again this week! That I will not grow weary, but continue to rely on God during this process.
Tanya's Family - was killed in a car accident last Friday. Please remember her family, esp the three children she left behind!

For more requests, please see: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval/Prayer%2BRequest%2BSunday/

Please take a moment and pray for all of these requests. (I will post updates as soon as I get them.)

PRAISE REPORTS:

Loretta - husband is out of hospital after appendectomy and is doing well!

Angela (me) - After more than 5 years, I have received a complete physical healing over the last week!!! Also, lost almost a pound (0.8 lb) this past week!!!

If you have a prayer request, please leave a comment or email me at thomasjaz3@bellsouth.net with your request. And please be sure to email or leave another comment with any praise reports as well!!!

Thanks!!! :-)

Thanksgiving Is Almost Here!!!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away!!! This year has gone by way too fast!!!

I do love this time of year though! And I love Thanksgiving!!! Not just for the food, which is always wonderful, but for the time we get to spend together and the memories we get to make each year.

I have always loved waking up and watching the parades while the turkey's in the oven. Our tradition is that DH cooks the turkey -- and he is an AWESOME cook! -- and I prepare all the sides. This is the way it has always been when we stay home for the day. We usually eat our Thanksgiving dinner around 12:30 pm... that is except for the year I accidentally forgot to thaw out the turkey.

This was actually DS's first Thanksgiving and my brain had been missing for quite some time. LOL We had bought the turkey only 2 days before and instead of putting it in the fridge, I put it in the freezer. We didn't discover this until around 8:30 am Thanksgiving Day!

We ended up throwing a pizza in the oven for lunch and didn't get to enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner until almost 7 pm. It was still great and we still get to laugh at ourselves about it every year - actually DH still gets a lot of joy out of it! LOL

We still had an awesome day that year! DS was only 5 months old and that was also the year we began our own family tradition of giving our child(ren) a gift after we eat our Thanksgiving dinner to bring in the holiday season at our house. Every year since then we have done this and it's so much fun!

After we "bring in the holiday season", that's when we begin listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas shows / movies, decorate the house and we usually try to put up the tree within a day or two after Thanksgiving.

I am so looking forward to this week and DS is also very excited this year. Before now, he was a very picky eater and now he eats anything and everything! (Thank God for answered prayer!!!) He is especially excited about all the turkey and, yes, all the football!!! :-)

I hope that everyone who's reading this will have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas season with your family!!!

God bless you!!! :-)

Walk By Faith

I found this great song along with a wonderful testimony by Jeremy Camp on Youtube. I was going to post it on this blog, but there was no link to use to embed it on this page.

Here's the link to the page itself -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKaJr5ZWby4&feature=related

This is one of my very favorite songs by him and one that has gotten me through some really tough times. It's weird that I even found this clip of this song because I was actually looking for a different song!

Before performing the song, he shares the story of why he wrote the song and why the words of the song are still as true today as they were back then. Hope it touches your heart as it touched mine!!! :-)

Why God???

These last few years have been really hard at times, but whether I can see it or not, God has been so faithful!

Even though I can look back now and see where God's hand was in many of the situations, I am still unsure of why we had to go through certain things. There are things that don't make any sense to me and I'm not sure if they ever will or not.

I do know that God has called me to walk in faith and because of that I am trusting that these things were necessary or He wouldn't have allowed them to happen.

I say that completely by faith because at times I still deal with lots of different emotions. I still get upset and even angry sometimes, but I do know that even if I am not ready to completely give these situations over to Him at that moment, He will be waiting when I am.

Before now I have always held onto things and let them control my thoughts, emotions, etc. But now, even though I haven't fully given everything over to God, I am slowly beginning to release these things to Him. Even when these things come to mind, I am trying not to dwell on them anymore.

And God knows that I'm not perfect nor will I ever be. He's not angry with me that I still struggle with things, but He gives me His mercy whenever I am not strong and still covers me when I don't want to be touched.

Thought This Was Awesome...

Not only do I love this movie, but paired with this song, many of the scenes in this video remind me so much of my walk with God over the last few years!

Adopting... or not???

A few people know that we have been considering adopting a little one for a while. We haven't talked about it lately because we feel that we are currently going through a process to prepare us physically and financially so that we can adopt. We are also waiting on God and His timing if this is to happen.


Since I began losing weight several months ago, I have been a little bit confused as to whether we will have another biological child before we go through with adoption. I have a weird feeling that as soon as I reach my goal that I will probably get pregnant. Of course, I was unable to get pregnant before I starting gaining the extra weight and when I did get pregnant, it was an absolute miracle. (I'll be sure to share that story soon in another post!) Not sure if this is just me or if it is in fact God telling us to wait a bit longer before beginning the adoption process. ???



As I said, we haven't really talked about adoption lately even between the two of us. We sent in a preliminary application last December and was told that we would more than likely be able to proceed with an adoption with no problems. Even with that being said, along with wanting to be a lot more financially secure, in April we felt that we should wait another year before starting anything.



We have always felt that God was leading us to adopt from China. I know that there are plenty of babies here in the US as well as a lot of other places. We simply feel called to go to China. And I understand all the new restrictions and that waiting time has gotten even longer, but I still feel God saying China.


I know that God may change His mind and redirect our path at some point. I also know that sometimes God takes us down a certain path to lead us to another one that may be totally different than the one we started on. And if we are to have another biological child anytime soon, I would rather wait until that child is at least a few years old before adopting. Regardless of when it will happen, I feel in my heart that at some point in our lives we will be adopting a child... maybe even several children. I don't think God would have given us this desire so strongly if we weren't supposed to.


Anyway, a couple of days ago I received an email from the adoption agency and I decided to go to their website. It's the first time I've been there in a while. As I read through the articles and looked at all the pictures, I prayed and asked God to remind me if this was still in His will for us to do this. My heart became heavy once again and I realized that the desire is still very much there!


I got off the computer a little bit later and while I was spending time with DS watching one of our cartoons, I noticed there was something flying around. Then I saw two, then three and then I noticed a few more. Finally, I realized that these were lady bugs! Since then, we have had a lady bug invasion and even noticed that almost the entire ledge over our front porch was covered with them!!!


If you know anything about China, you know that lady bugs are a symbol of good luck and have also become the symbol of hope for adoptive parents waiting for their new babies! Coincidence or could this be another confirmation???

I guess we'll see... :-)

SECRET SISTERS!!!

"I am signed up for the Homeschool Moms Secret Sister Session #3!"

PRAYER REQUEST SUNDAY

My sister, Alicia ---To have a baby. No luck for the last 4 yrs.

My aunt, Thomassene --- has herniated disc and may need surgery.

Nancy - may have lyme disease

Rodney Cain -- is a diabetic, part of his foot has already been amputated. May need to have whole foot amputated. Also is having kidney problems

Harriet - depression esp this time of year from deaths in the family.

Rita Moore - her husband fell and broke hip in 4 places

Betty Whitlow -- has appt. with Heart Doctor on Dec 27

Loretta--Dad in hospital and husband had to have emergency appendectomy early Sat morning.

Our Church - building a new church building, praying God's continued favor over this project.

Me - As I try to lose weight this week! That I will not grow weary, but continue to rely on God during this process.

Also, a friend of mine, Tanya, was killed in a car accident on Friday. Please remember her family, esp the three children she left behind!

For more requests, please see:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval/424753/

Please take a moment and pray for all of these requests. (I will post updates as soon as I get them.)

If you have a prayer request, please leave a comment or email me at thomasjaz3@bellsouth.net with your request. And please be sure to email or leave another comment with any praise reports as well!!!

Thanks!!! :-)

MONDAY MEANDERINGS

To see my Monday Meanderings post, please go to my homeschooling blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/thomasjaz1999 .

Prayer Request Sunday

Ally Keown--teacher--gave birth to a baby boy which was in birth canal 45 mins. without oxygen. He is in ICU and breathing on his own. Things seem to look good. Please keep this family lifted. Little Rylan could have brain damage or seizures from lack of oxygen for so long.

For more requests, please see:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval/420648/

Please take a moment and pray for all of these requests. (I will post updates as soon as I get them.)

If you have a prayer request, please leave a comment or email me at thomasjaz3@bellsouth.net with your request. And please be sure to email or leave another comment with any praise reports as well!!!

Thanks!!! :-)

Trusting Even When I Don't Believe

We are definitely having a better week! We were even able to take a day trip earlier in the week!!!

It was so good to get away even if it was only for a day. The weather was perfect and traffic wasn't bad at all. If I could sum up our trip in one word, it would be peaceful!

Autumn is such a great time to travel. All the trees were changing colors and everything looked so beautiful! I enjoyed every minute of it!

Besides the scenery, I noticed there were also changes in me.
We were in the Air Force for 10 years and I don't remember ever feeling so peaceful while traveling.

Over the years I have learned to trust God a little at a time. I go through things and don't understand why. It's always later on when I realize the changes that God has allowed to take place in me.

It's weird to see that written down because only a few weeks ago I broke down because I felt like I honestly didn't trust God. It's not that I didn't want to, but I felt like I could not even trust Him with my own son. It broke my heart to realize that I still didn't wholeheartedly trust Him as I know I should.

Then the other day as we were driving along, I noticed that I was totally at peace. I realized that I did trust God after all. I trusted Him with the car, the trip itself and, ultimately, I trusted Him with our lives.

It was then that it hit me - I do trust God, just not always and not with everything. But I do know that the more I grow in Him and the more I learn to rely on Him, the more I will learn to trust Him completely!