Labor Day Weekend

Well, we drove up to Ohio to visit the fam for Labor Day weekend. It was really nice, we got to meet our little niece Rayna. She is very cute and also very strong :) We went out Saturday night to the movies with Eric and Celeste and it was so funny to be out with another couple without our kids. We watched the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean and it was alright...it seemed like they ran out of ideas to come up with this movie and just kind of pieced it together, but hey, it was worth the 2 bucks. Not much else going on around here...Emma is going through her rebellious, naughty phase. Hopefully she can get it all out now before she hits the teen years :P not likely I suppose. We are going to visit my sis and family in a couple weeks...It is just me and the kids on our flight so we will see how well that goes! The flight is only about 90 minutes so we should do okay. I'm off to go watch a movie with Emma while Ethan takes his nap.

Update on life

Well, let's see here, what HAVE i been up to? well, ethan had his first birthday and that was really fun...i am in the process of weaning him and he is taking it well. emma has fully developed her rebellious attitude. Why don't they call it the terrible threes? 2 was easy. She still is not too bad, just a little stubborn and still testing the waters. Justin is doing alright, he is so frustrated with work though. I am sure he wants to quit just about every day but i admire him for sticking with it. I decided to get serious about getting into shape and I started the Power 90 2 days ago so I will put pics up after 90 days if I get brave enough :P I will put my weight loss stuff up to I suppose. The good thing with the power 90 is it is a very easy to do program and from all accounts very effective...it has been out since 2002 and is led by Tony Horton. He just recently came out with the P90 x routine which is hardcore training. Of course, it is pretty expensive, currently around 140 bucks but on ebay it goes for 115 or so...well, I have no desire to build huge muscles but I think I would like the challenge of the intensity of that program so here is my plan...I am going to do the Power 90 first and then see where I am at. If I am decent shape but could use some definition then I will look into getting the P90x. After all the hype has worn off I am sure there will be several ppl putting their P90x set up on ebay and I will be able to snag it pretty cheap. So that's the plan for now...I will be taking a pic in 30 day increments in the same outfit to show my results. That's about all going on around here, now I need to go stop the kids from having a "snowball" fight with the baby wipes!

Running

After a couple months hiatus I started running again tonight...I only did a mile but boy did that wear me out. I feel really good though...gotta get back into the habit again, it is a really good stress reliever AND it is also good for you too! well, gotta run :P

It is well

Today at church a story was told about the famous hymn, "It is well." It is a very touching story which I will post below along with the words. I am inspired that even when this man lost all that was dear to him he was still able to praise God. I know I would find it near to impossible to have the attitude that he did under his circumstances.

"It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss. This hymn was writ­ten af­ter several trau­matic events in Spaf­ford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chi­ca­go Fire which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the S. S. Ville Du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business. While cross­ing the At­lan­tic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with an­o­ther ship, and all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Shortly afterwards, as Spaf­ford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daugh­ters had died.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Prayer and Faith

Okay, I only know of two ppl who actually read this blog but thought I would post about my prayer request on here....I was in the hospital for a week a few months ago and predictably I now have about 5,000 of medical bill debt which was put into a loan type repayment, which is cool, even though the monthly bill is almost 200 we can just manage it, however I got a bill yesterday for about 700 more and I honestly don't know what we will do about it. So I put it on my fridge because I am going to fast and pray that God will supply on this...I ask that whoever reads my blog simply pray and agree with faith that God is bigger than any amount of money and God will provide for us. I have also started looking for a job, part time nights maybe weekends to help get some stuff paid off so pray I find a good job no matter what it is and that I will have a joyful spirit while I work. That is all for now :)

Seventy times Seven

Man, the past few weeks I have really struggled with forgiveness. There is one particular person in my life that I have had a very rocky history with. It's been literally years since this person wronged me but when I think about it I feel like it was yesterday. I have made contact with this person and told them about my struggle to forgive them and they have sincerely asked for my forgiveness. I am shocked at how hard it is to "let go and let God". I just read through the Bible passage on the story of the unforgiving debtor and it really hit me hard. I always just attributed that story to financial problems or dishonest work ethics, but in the last verse it says, "that's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart." I think that God will not pour out his blessings on you if you don't forgive as you have been forgiven. I have still been blessed by God, but I have only had a small trickle of blessings compared to the overflowing blessings he wants to rain down on me. So now I am the one in sin because I have not forgiven a fellow believer who has confessed his sin to me for reconciliation. I feel like the little train that could...in my mind I keep saying "I think I can, I think I can, I really, really, think I can." This makes me realize that it is a matter of will. I am battling God's will with my own. I don't want to forgive, I want them to be hurt as much as I have been, even though God has truly brought suffering on this person. I am ashamed to admit that but it is the truth and the truth will set me free :) I need to stop thinking I can and start deciding "I will" today, at this very moment , turn this hurt and anger over to the One who has so clearly forgiven me. Not my will, but Thy will.

Tad Howard

I found out today that a high school friend of mine, Tad Howard, was found dead last week. They have not released many details about his death but it def. appears to be foul play, possibly a shooting. I am very sad right now. Tad was such a fun person. I remember so many study halls of joking around with Tad and Toby and getting into all kinds of trouble with them. I hope they find whoever is involved in Tad's death. I don't know for sure if Tad really knew the Lord, but I am hopeful that he did. RIP "tadpole".