WAKING UP TO MORE SNOW!

February 04, 2009

Woke up to more snow this morning and was thrilled that school was out. It was not as exciting for me but it sure was for Rachael. She has caught the "cold crud" and did not want to wake up this morning. She kept asking me for "5 more minutes Mom" and I did not even think about checking the news to see if school was out. I did not expect much more snow that what was on the ground last night when we left the school so I gave no thought about school being out. Looking at Rachael's face this morning and realizing that she really did feel bad, I turned on the news and saw where school was out. She was very thankful that she could go back to sleep. I heard her mumble the words, "thank you Lord." When you have the common cold, it is so nice to sleep in because it seems as though the mornings are the worst. You wake up with all that junk in your head and drainage down your throat. I feel bad for her when she is sick. She gets these dark patches under her eyes and you can visibly tell that she does not feel well. I was worried last night that she may have strep throat but when I checked on her today, it does not seem to be strep but more sinus. I may end up taking her to the doctor if she continues to get any worse.

Rachael sure did not play ball last night like she was sick. She had a great JV and Varsity Game and her name is in the Dispatch for the first time for a Varsity Game. She scored 12 points last night for Varsity and she really is developing some good ball skills. I think she will be a great Varsity player if she keeps practicing and listening to her coach. Mr. Steinhaus will probably not coach the girls team next year and Rachael will definitely miss him. She compliments him often and saids he is a great coach. He works them hard and expects them to play hard. I am looking forward to watching her play ball for several more years. She is already talking about softball this spring and looking forward to that as well. I am glad she is involved in sports. I believe it really builds self confidence, dedication, and teaches them to be part of a team that works together to get things done.

Weigh in was awesome today. I lost another 5 lbs and I am more motivated to continue my journey. The Biggest Loser was great last night and they sent Joelle home. I felt really bad for Carla and she definitely deserved a better partner. Joelle just does not get it. She thinks only of herself and for her consequences. I'm glad Jimmy and I are in this journey together. We motivate and inspire one another and at times, yes, we police each other. If one of us observes the other one spiraling out of control, we try and get each other back on track. We were one of our good friends house on Saturday night and they had a candy corn mix and I noticed my husband dipping in the bowl quite a few times. He actually had placed the bowl on the table where he was sitting and was eating as he was playing a game. I walked over and gently removed the bowl from the table and placed it back on the counter and closed the lid. He smiled and told me thank you. I'm glad that he doesn't get mad that I am concerned about him and his health. I want us to make this a life long commitment. He encourages me and does silly little things to show it and I appreciate it greatly! We set my new goal and it is 20 lbs more. This will be one of the last mini goals we set before I set the final goal. Continue to pray for me and encourage me. I need prayers and encouragement.

My devotions this week have been really awesome and the Lord has spoken to me about several things that I have been praying about. I shared some things with a good friend this past week from the Book of Haggai. I was not even supposed to be in Haggai but the Lord took me back to Haggai because he wanted to show me the message I had missed. He sure did show me what I needed to see and even to share with others. Haggai was a prophet and brought four messages to the people on what God wanted them to understand and know about the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem. God used Haggai with these messages to challenge the people of God concerning their priorities. He wanted them to proceed with building the temple in spite of local and political opposition. Haggai told the people not to be discouraged if this temple was not as elaborate as Solomon's temple. He encouraged them to turn from unclean acts and to totally trust in God's sovereign power. The temple was taking so long to rebuild and the people were allowing the influences of man to stop what God wanted to bless them with. Things I was taught from the 2 chapters of Haggai: (1) to examine our priorities and see if we are more interested in engaging in the things of the world than doing the works of GOD.
(2) to confess our sins and failures before God and allow him to
do a work in us.
(3) to do exactly what God is asking of us knowing that he is in
total control our lives and circumstances and that he is with us
Always!
(4) not to have a Defeated Attitude when we do run into scoffers
or opposition but to proceed with what God is clearly laying
on our hearts to do.
(5) to be secure and know that God loves us and that HE WILL
BLESS US as we faithfully serve him.

I pray that I personally always remember this message and what God has clearly shared with me. I know that I need to be more of an encouragement to my Pastor and his wife and our church staff. They are faced with a lot of different circumstances each day and sometimes they can be unsure of what to do because they can get overwhelmed with opposition or discouragement. We as a body of Christ need to let them know we are praying for them and that we will stand with them and allow God to do GREAT and MIGHTY things!