My Saturday

THIS:  

PLUS THIS: 

IN THE SAME DAY... 

EQUALS A WHOLE LOTTA THIS: 

Great day though! Raised over $2,000 @ the rummage sale & mom had a great turn out @ the walk. What an awesome Saturday!

Need something to do on Saturday? I have just the thing(s)...

RUMMAGE SALE 6:30a-2:00p 

Where: Faith Landmarks Ministries- 8491 Chamberlayne Road, Richmond, VA 23228

Stephen & I are going on a mission trip to NYC in August with our Young Adults Ministry 

ALL proceeds from this rummage sale will help fund the trip. 

We have received so many donations for this sale... it's going to be HUGE! 

Are you in the midst of spring cleaning & need somewhere to drop your unwanted stuff? We are still receiving donations... tonight & tomorrow 6-9p @ the church! Bring it on :) 

When you're finished shopping you can head over to.... 

CROHN'S & COLITIS WALK 5-8p

Where: Deep Run Park- 9900 Ridgefield Pkwy, Richmond, VA 23233

Mom has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. To show her our support, my family will be joining her on this walk. Will you join us? 

There will be lots of fun stuff for the kids & adults to do (including moon-walks, face painting, cotton candy, food, live music etc.) 

This event is a fundraiser. Please consider a donation to a worthy cause. All proceeds go to Crohns research. Chrohns is often overlooked, yet so many people, including children, are effected by it on a daily basis. Any donations and prayers for mom would be greatly appreciated! Click here to donate or join our walking team (Di's Dolls & Dudes). 

Hopefully I'll see you Saturday... somewhere.

Much love & many blessings to ya! 

2 worlds... you must think I'm crazy!

I remember the day I realized that I actually lived in 2 worlds. Crazy huh? By 2 worlds I mean 2 realms. I remember how shocking it was for me to realize that angels are real, the devil & demons are real & most importantly GOD was real! Just as real as you & me... just in an unseen realm... but not forever. Talk about "I once was blind, but now I see!"...

It breaks my heart when people blame God for bad things. Jesus said.... 

"SATAN comes to steal, kill & destroy, but I came to give you LIFE... an abundant life!  I am the GOOD shepherd. The good shepherd gives life to the sheep." (John 10:10-11) 

God never promised us that we wouldn't go through bad things. He did promise that He would help us (if we let Him) get through those bad things though... and come out victorious in the end! He gave us promises to stand on & He wants us to have faith in those promises & believe in Him to bring us through! 

The Bible calls God our Abba Father. Abba means Daddy. When I think of a daddy I think of a smiling, kind & gentle pappa. Someone who would go to any length to protect and help their child. 

The Bible also said He is the Lover of our Soul... He LOVES US!  

As a parent, it would crush me if something horrible happened to my kids & they said I wasn't there to help them or even worse... if they blamed me for it. We guide & lead our children lovingly through this world as they face challenges & obstacles. We are there to help them up when they fall & teach them as they go through things. That is who God is to us. I know everyone doesn't understand this. It can easily be twisted. A lot of people think God intentionally puts them through horrible situations & circumstances to teach them a lesson. He will certainly make good of a bad situation, if you let Him... but He's definitely not to blame! 

Some people say God is mysterious... no He's not! Sure we don't know everything, but He left us with an entire book full of promises & instructions for His children... He even tells us the ending! 

As far as I'm concerned... it doesn't take too much convincing for me to realize that God is on OUR side! 

I used to be sick... now I'm healed

I used to be empty... now I'm full

I used to be miserably depressed... now I'm full of God's joy

I used to be full of fear... now I have a peace

He LOVES US. Please don't blame God for the bad.... lean on Him to get you through it... onto the other side. He's the lifter of our heads. He'll take your chin gently in His hand & lift your head toward Heaven... if you let Him. Some times I'll close my eyes & picture myself jumping into the lap of My Heavenly Father & snuggling up as close as I can... while He wraps His loving arms around me.... I don't have a mean God! 

When I was little... I used to love this poem. It seems appropriate for this post.... 

Just thought I'd throw all of that out there & for your reading pleasure here are just a few ways the Bible describes God (does this sound like a God who intentionally puts you through heartache?) ...

• A hiding place from the wind
• a merciful God
• a nail in a sure place
• a shadow from the heat
• a shelter for me
• a strength to the needy in distress
• a sun and shield
• a very present help in time of trouble
• He that comforts you
• He that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think 
• He that gives life to the world!
• Lord of Peace
• Father of the Fatherless
• The good spirit 
• The Lord our Provider
• The Lord our Healer
• Rivers of water in a dry place

The Bible says He is our... 

• Abba Father (Abba means daddy)  
  
• Counselor 
• Faithful Creator 
• Beloved
  
• Defense
• Deliverer
• Exceeding joy
• Fortress
• Friend
• Goodness
• Helper
• Hiding place
• Redeemer
• Refuge
• Rock
• Strength & power
• Dwelling place
• The lifter of my head
• The lover of my soul

Thank you for being you God... sweet, wonderful, loving YOU! 

ATTENTION Richmonders... crazy geese on the loose!

1st red flag should have been the number of geese in the field

2nd red flag should have been the speed at which they were approaching us

3rd red flag was most definitely the crazy look in their eyes as they got close enough to stare us down 

Call me a scaredy cat, call me dramatic (me?... never... puh-lease!)... but all I could think about were those crazy America's Funniest Home Videos.... Come on, you know you've seen them...

However, as I got back in the van (safely away from the deranged animals) I realized that in my desperate attempt to get them to not eat my legs off... or the kids... I had actually thrown... not just the bread, but the bread bag at the maniac geese.  Being the upstanding citizen that I am... Ahem... I couldn't just leave the plastic trash in the middle of the pretty park, so I took a deep breath, mustered up the courage & went for it...

and failed miserably! Fortunately my big, strong, handsome, heroic hubs was with us & he showed us how it was done.... 

I saw the lunatic birds headed for their next victim as we were leaving... so I captured it all on video... in case authorities needed to be alerted! 

If you are a local... take heed & stay far far away from Crump park! 

11?!?!? You can't be serious!

My Maddy-Poo is 11!!! Her birthday was on Monday. I'm a mom of an 11 year old... weird!

Festivities started on Saturday. We had a Mall Scavenger Hunt. It was so funny. The girls were too cute prissing their way through the mall completing their challenges. I did some online searches & created my own challenge list for the party using a bunch of stuff I found. It turned out great. The girls really seemed to enjoy it. Thank you so much Erica for your help! We couldn't have done it w/o you... seriously! After the mall party we headed home for a sleep over... What an experience. I love being around other children (yes she is still a child... thank you very much!) her age. It helps me realize that she is not so strange after all... quite normal actually :) 

Sunday she spent the day with my mom in Williamsburg. She took her to the Converse outlet store. Rows & rows of Converse... she thought she was in Heaven. My parents hooked her up. 

Then on Monday we had cupcakes with her class & mom threw her a mini party at her house with cheeseburgers & an adorable birthday cake. 

Time sure does fly by....

Happy Birthday my sweet woooby woob! 

Who knows what the purpose a yellow curb is anyway?

Stephen left Thursday after work to head to NYC for the weekend. We are currently in the midst of planning a missions trip to the city in August. Right now the team consist of 16 people, including me & him (is that proper grammar?). Anyway, I was SUPPOSED to be in NYC with him but we had some drama come up with Liv (whole other blog... everything is OK though) and we decided the best thing for me to do was stay home with the girls. I am now (maybe not so much at first) totally fine with the fact that I didn't get to spend the weekend alone with my hubby (& the babe) in my (so far) favorite city in the world... riding the subway & staring up at skyscrapers, taking in the beauty of Time Square, hitting Broadway... (OK, can you tell I'm not REALLY over it yet?... ARGH!) I did however enjoy a very lovely day with my parents & my 2 youngest. We went to a few yard sales & then hit a huge flea market right outside of Richmond. (SO not China town... OK, seriously, I'm over it) I really enjoyed that time with them today. My dad is a nut (again... a whole other blog).

So back to NYC... he had a meeting Friday AM with the missions organization that we are parterning up with. It was a pre-trip to discuss the details of the actual trip. He has family that live right across the river in Jersey, so he decided to stay the weekend to hang with then. He planned on getting up early this morning & meeting his cousin for a Broadway show & a nice day in Manhatten. 

So, I get a text from him early this morning around 7:15. It goes something like this...

"I'm in Manhatten @ Starbucks reading my Bible & some crackheads just told me to stop reading my Bible & go check out the city. I guess it's obvious I'm a tourist." 

So I respond something like....

"That's hilarious... they must have heard your accent when you ordered your coffee... lol"  (for those of you who don't know... My hubs still has his Eastern KY accent... love it!) 

So I go about my merry way, totally trying to focus on my great day ahead & how it really is OK that I'm not up there with him... I'm about to hit my first yard sale when I get a 2nd text from my hubs...

"Can u get me the # to geico?" (this is our car insurance company) 

1st thought that goes through my mind is... "Oh my God, he has gotten into an accident". Before I can totally freak out I get a 3rd text from him...

"Parking in front of yellow lines is bad." 

I'm still a bit confused at this point.. & frantically begin dialing his number... NO ANSWER... are you kidding me?!? You crazy man, don't send me these kind of texts & then NOT answer your phone. Second try... he answers. 

me: "Babe, what in the heck is going on?"

hubs: "um, I got towed" 

(at this point I totally resist the urge to tell him... I TOLD YOU TO TAKE THE SUBWAY INTO MANHATTAN, but NOOOO what do I know?) 

Instead, I kinda freak... thinking about him alone in the city with no car. He proceeds to tell me that he has to go to the police precinct to pay the ticket & then take the receipt to the tow company to get the car back... etc etc etc. Then, of course, the mother in me comes out.. 

"babe, please make sure when you get the car back & find a new parking spot that you get out & ASK a local if you are breaking any laws in your new spot. (I could have totally continued & said something like... "better yet... get out of the daggon city & do what I suggested in the first place & take the subway back in so you don't have to worry about those crazy city laws that lil city folk like us don't know about"... but I didn't, b/c that would not have been nice, edifying OR encouraging... a very bad wife thing to say... SO instead I will pretend like it's not just as bad to say it through my blog... Ahem (yes, I totally stole that from JD & MckMama... Ahem)) 

I really did feel horrible for him though. I LOVE the city, and he SO doesn't. My ideal vaction spot is fast paced, big city, so much to see, so much to do. His ideal vacation is a cabin in the woods. (Our life story... really) So I just KNEW he was going to get up there & just fall in love with it & want to go back as a family every year :) One of the first things he says to me as he walks 6 blocks to the police presinct... "I hate New York now!" ARGH... daggon police. I mean seriously... who knew you couldn't park in front of a yellow curb. Come on people... where is the sign?!?!

So anyway, he totally cracked me up with his last text...

"getting towed in manhattan... $185. 2 tix to a broadway show... $50. Havin 2 nyc crackheads tell u 2 stop readin ur Bible & go see da f*** city... priceless." 

That, my friend, is hilarious!