Good News!

I am way behind on blogging and have much to catch up on.
Since I have been away, Britain had her 4th birthday! YIKES! I have pictures to share and stories to tell about this little princess and will do that soon. Poppy and I also owe Miss Brit a "spoil me rotten weekend!" We are trying to decide what we want to do on our weekend - Poppy and I want to be sure it is something that Brit will enjoy and remember fondly forever.
I won another sales contest!!!! Yipppeee..... God is so good to me! I liked this sales contest because there was more than one winner! Everyone that hit the "goal" was a winner! My good friend and co-worker, Tammy, also hit the goal and as a result, she and her husband will join John and I on a cruise or some kind of all-inclusive resort vacation. I will let you know when the company decides for sure.
I have also been working on Lila's baby bedding. What fun that is! Audrey has chosen some adorable fabric - Lila should love it!
I have a hodge-podge of stuff to share - if you want to really know me - and understand what makes me tick - then continue to read. IF NOT - WARNING - STOP NOW!!!
I know that my blog is often times very personal - I share what is in my heart. To some, that is wrong - if that is you - DON'T READ ANYMORE!!!
My life is an open book - LAST WARNING - STOP NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT MY OPEN BOOK!
OK - that should be enough warning - here I go.
If you know me - then you know that I love the Lord! Jesus is my savior and I give Him the glory for all things in my life that are good and right. If you know me - you are also very aware that I don't do everything right everytime. If you know me - you understand that I am a work in progress - I am still learning and growing in Him - and my Father is faithful and will complete the good work He started in me. He promised in His Word. Thank goodness - that is His job!
Sometimes God gives me opportunities to teach His Word, to share my testimony and to minister to those around me that are hurting. I LOVE to do that - I am always humbled when God chooses to use me. I mean - gosh - there are always people around that are WAY more spiritually grown up and much wiser than me. But - I also keep it in perspective - after all - God used a donkey to speak through in the Bible. If God can use an Ass - literally - a donkey - He can surely use me. ;-0
God is always on the "move" in our life and it amazes me to watch Him bring everything together. He is always teaching us and often what seem to be unrelated things come together to teach us and give us more insight into ourselves and into the Heart of God.
God has blessed me with many precious friends - one of my very precious friends who shall remain nameless in this blog has had a huge growth spurt recently. A growth spurt in her walk with the Father and in becoming who God created her to be. My friend loves the Lord and is born-again - she belongs to Jesus. But guess what? Perfection is not yet manifested in every area of her life! Sound familar? She has one area where she fails time and time again. Does she want to fail? NO! Does she fail anyway? Yes! Does she beat herself up about it? ABSOLUTELY! Well - she has finally worked thru the MUCK and God has shown her the root of the problem. Now she knows and understands and can get help to deal with the root cause.
In all of this - she was beating herself up and grieving over the mistakes she had made. She was questioning whether and why God would continue to pick her up - forgive her - and love her. Well my friend, God will always continue to pick us up, forgive us and love us! He is our Father - our parent - parents unconditinally love their children. We are His children.
God has taught me about His heart and love through my children - through the experience of being a parent and experiencing the love that a parent has for a child. I know what the Word says about how much He loves us - I love reading the bible and studying it. But sometimes, those Words come alive and make sense to me through experiences.
When Ryan was about 3 years old - Sean was a year and 1/2 - a long time ago - God taught me that no matter what - He would always forgive me, always pick me up, always love me, always help me - no matter what.
It was a beautfiul spring afternoon - we had been cooped up in the house all winter - and Ryan was eager to get outside to play. Sean was sleeping - I left the front door open so that I could hear him if he cried and Ryan and I went in the front yard to run and play for awhile. We lived on a little cul-d-sac that didn't get much traffic - the front yard was a safe place to play. I put my head inside the door to listen for Sean and in that instant, Ryan's ball went into the street - he chased it - and a car came screeching around the corner onto our cul-d-sac. I looked up and absolute terror and fear comsumed me. I knew I couldn't get to Ryan fast enough - and it looked like the idiot driving the car would hit him! The driver slammed on the brakes and missed hitting Ryan! Ryan had no idea that he was in danger - as I ran to him, he had the biggest smile on his face - he thought I was chasing him! I scooped him up and held him tight and cried big tears! I was so thankful that he was ok -
Ryan knew better than to run into the street - we had discussed it many many times. He ran into the street anyway - totally disobedient.
When I told Roy about the incident - he asked me if I spanked Ryan. I said NO - the thought never even occurred to me! I was so thankful and just wanted to hold Ryan and love him. I wanted to comfort him - although he had no idea he had even been in danger until it was over. I picked him up - I loved on him - I cried over him - I discussed with him again "why we don't go in the street" and then I dusted him off and set him down to go again.
And that my friends is how God loves us. His love for us is greater than our love for our earthly children. I know that is a tough concept because we love our children soooo much - but it's true God's love for us is bigger and purer.
Even if Ryan disobeyed that rule again (to my knowledge he did not) and had gotten hit by a car - do you think I would have left him bleeding in the street and said "well - too bad for you - he knows the rules - he was being disobedient - he is on his own?" NO! Like any parent - I would have immediately run to him - gotten him the best help available - loved him - cried over him - made sure he was taken care of - and then lovingly set him down again - believing the best in him - believing that he surely wouldn't make that same mistake again.
If that is an earthly parent's reaction of love and mercy - OMG - how much greater is the Love and Mercy that comes from our heavently Father???
So - be of good cheer - God will never leave you or forsake you. He will always love you and help you - even when you are disobedient. He will always forgive us and come to our rescue. He will always believe the best and see the best in us. We are His children - He will never give up on us - He will continue to teach us the same lesson over and over until we learn it. We may have to sit in "time-out" - but it won't change the way He loves and cares for us.
Isn't that good news???
In Him -
Char