It's the most wonderful time of the year...........

I bet you thought this post was going to be about Christmas didn't you? ha ha ha gotcha.

Truth is Fall has always been my favorite time of the year. I love the cool mornings and the warm afternoons. The sunsets this time of year are breathtaking! The harvest moon (aka The month of September's full moon) looks like you can just reach up and touch it.

I love that the tourists all GO HOME in September and that the kids go back to school. I even love the annual trip to the city to buy school clothes. This year, however, Im loving that I dont HAVE to buy school clothes. All four of my sons are now high school graduates and my darling Autie-pooh will continue to be home schooled. Forever. :)

I've been getting up an hour before the alarm the past few weeks and enjoying my cup of coffee instead of slamming it down on my way to work. It taste so much better when you can savor it. Note to self...... slow down and savor more than just your coffee. Life is sweet, my family is precious and God is good. Need I say more?

Chef Autae'

I was so impressed by Autumn's first attempt at making homemade pizza from scratch that I had to share a few photos.



I have never tried to make pizza dough myself.



She made beating the dough look like so much fun that I wanted to help,



but when I asked if I could help she very politely said.....




"Ummmm nooooo, I really want to make it all by myself"



And so she did.

Summer, Summer, Summer......

Summer is officially finally here!

I have such fond memories of Summer when I was growing up. Most years I got to fly to Texas and spend the entire summer with my mom. I had friends there and each summer when we were reunited, we'd spend hours and hours swimming, crawdad fishing or riding bikes on the white rock roads. I loved when the sun went down and the fireflies came out. It all just felt magical somehow.

Looking back I can honestly say that the everyday events really stand out in my mind far better than the well planned camping trips or road trips. The grand adventures were fun too, but the best times were just the unstructured wandering of three little girls without a care in the world. We were all the same age, we had the same name and the neighbors all just referred to us as "the 3 Lisas". Good times.

I hope that I have somehow passed my love of adventure on to my five kids. With the boys all grown, I have to remember to make a special effort with Autie. Sometimes I feel like she got a little short changed in life. She doesnt have any siblings the same age and her parents are "old" ha ha. She does, however, have ME all to herself most of the time so I guess it's a fair trade off. I'll just have to stay young at heart. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go, my super soaker is all filled up and I have to go sneek up on Autie.

Random thought

This makes little sense, I will acknowledge that right up front, but here goes anyway.

The past several nights I have been awakened at 3am. Now, I know from experience that anytime I come fully awake at 3am for no reason (ie:no loud noise, nothing out of the ordinary going on)I know this is God wanting to have some quiet time with me.
I usually just stay quiet and listen to what He may have to say to me. Then I begin to pray and seek. I usually fall back asleep praying. Sometimes that's the end of the story and sometimes intense dreams follow this prayer time.

I usually wake up from these dreams with an anxious heart. I wont bother posting the dream's details here because I dont yet fully understand what they even mean. I will tell you that a song enters my heart and begins to comfort me at these time. The song assures me that everything will be okay and "He will deliver me". My fear goes completely away.

What does this all mean?? I have no idea. I warned you this was a random thought.
Why am I posting this?? Because the Holy Spirit wants me to assure someone that in our greatest hour of need, GOD is going to deliver us.

I am certain that the person this message is intended for will find it.
To God be all the glory.

Satan is alive and well

I have to tell you that this has been quite a week. What ever could go wrong has gone wrong. Im not just talking about myself here, the folks around me have had a trial of a week too. So.....it should have come as no suprise to me yesterday when a customer at my job lashed out at me. First of all they were rude on the phone and when they didnt get the reaction they wanted, they showed up in person to remind me just how flawed I am.

It has happened on more than one occasion over the years and each time I try to handle the situation with grace. I have been cussed at, yelled at, called stupid and incompetent. I usually have divine intervention as the Lord seals my lips and I sit speechless. I am usually able to eventually brush it off. I just figure if blaming ME allows someone to justify the chip on their shoulder, than I can take it.

Yesterday, however, was a little different. The final blow, the arrow that pierced my heart was when this person told me that they were sure that I just didnt care. "wow, that hurt". The person does not know me. They have no idea that I care deeply about many things.

Satan used this person to try and ruin my testimony. He wanted me to crack under the pressure, to yell and hurt back. I stood firm. As a last resort he hit me where I live, knocked the wind right out of me and danced in victory as my spirit crumpled.

1 Peter 5:8 reminds me to be self-controlled and alert. My enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The spiritual battle is alive and well and it is not just being faught in the Heaven's on our behalf, no friend, the battle is going on right here at ground zero and we must keep the armor on.

Pondering Holiness

"Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord"
Hebrew 12:14

Points to ponder........

Submission is the only way into God's holiness. Without holiness, we wont see God's presence in our daily walk, our family, our witness or our ministry. He watches over our struggles to be holy with great patience. Only God has the power to keep us holy, we can never accomplish it in our own strength. Which brings me back full circle..... Submission is the only way into God's holiness!

Such a simple concept to grasp, but easier said than done. Im trying, I really am. I take great comfort in knowing my Savior understands my feelings.

Added bliss:
My daughter sings in her sleep. Once in a while, I can hear her singing songs we've heard on KLOVE. It touches me so deeply to hear her singing to our Heavenly Father while she is sleeping. How sweet is that?!?

Be A Light Unto The World

Somewhere in the middle of a very casual conversation the other
night a young adult began to pour their heart out to me about
their childhood. You see, she was raised in "the system". I
have to tell you that the story of her life just broke my heart
into pieces. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I have an
absolute weakness when it comes to children. If I could, I would
gather all the hurting, broken kids that I come into contact with
and just bring them home with me.

This conversation was so difficult. I was mad and screaming
on the inside at her circumstances, but I knew that it was
very important that I just quietly listen without reacting.
I just wanted to weep at how she talked so matter of factly
about the abuse that she endured on a regular basis.
As I sat there, The Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, "Just
love her, she will be mine, just love her".

The Lord instructed me to get this person a Bible. I prayed
over this Bible with another prayer warrior before giving it to
her. God heard our prayers. The first time she opened this
Bible to read it, the Lord took her to a verse that He chose
just for her. She found healing and comfort in that verse
and turned her life over to God!

What an awesome God we have. What an awesome
responsibility he has given each of us to shine His light
to the world. We are called to Love others as He has loved
us.
*************
sidenote:

The alarm rang at 6:30 am. I threw back the covers and got
up for work as usual. I made my side of the bed. I went out
to the kitchen, turned on the coffee pot, checked on the
kiddo sleeping and then went back to my room to get
ready. I went into the bathroom, washed my face, brushed
my teeth and got dressed. I walked back to my side of the
bed to get my purse off the floor and noticed 2 shining coins
sitting there where I had recently been sleeping. I thought,
"WHAT IN THE WORLD?" How did they get there?
There is no way that I could have slept with them there
without them falling. It is even less likely that I could have
made the bed with out noticing them or disrupting
them, yet there they sat side by side. I woke John up to
see if he had put them there. He didnt. He thought I
was crazy.

I wonder if God was trying to get my attention, maybe He
wanted me to blog today. Maybe someone else will be
blessed by something He would have me write. Maybe
I AM crazy, but I decided to share this story anyway.