Have you noticed........

The weather is beautiful ..........on the day I have to work.
Skinny girls seem to be able to eat all they want, I eat one piece of chocolate and it goes straight to my - well, backside!
When the last of the lawn is mowed the first part has grown a foot.
Your children cant hear their cell phone to answer when you call, but they respond to a text.
The vehicle that goes ten miles under the speed limit with no possible passing zones only gets in front of you when you are late.
A good hair day usually occurs on stay home days.
That stuff in the miracle little bottle that promises to fill in all your wrinkles IMMEDIATELY with pictures of real women on the box - doesn't!
Ice cream tastes best at 9pm.
Grandchildren run faster the older I get.
The hours in each day are shorter and my desire to accomplish things cant keep up.

The drive to work gives you lots of time to pray and reflect on the beautiful weather.
Skinny girls will never know the sheer elation of secret chocolate.
I praise God for a riding lawn mower and a husband who says he likes to do the riding of the thing.
My child, though deaf to my ring tone, is healthy and answers my text with a note that says he loves me.
I can learn to pray for the person driving the vehicle but not half as hard as I pray for a chance to pass (sorry)!
Good hair days are a reminder that I have great hair even when it has a mind of its own.
My face has earned every wrinkle and crevice but would gladly offer to allow a plastic surgeon to camouflage some of my experience.
Ice cream is its own food group and should be consumed daily. But it still taste best at 9pm.
If I cant run as fast as the grandchildren, I can either send the dog to fetch them back or pray they run out of steam before I do. Not likely but I will continue my delusions, thank you very much.
The shorter hours in each day and my list of things to try remind me to treasure each day and make wiser choices in how I spend them - I still want to sky dive but will save that for Heaven cause these knees - well, I better save them for chasing grandchildren, opphs, there she goes....see you later...............racing on........................

This mornings prayer

The Bible study I am working in right now has a focal Scripture each day and a prayer. The one this morning was incredible.

Dear heavenly Father, instill Your Word deep in my being. Let Your truth permeate my being and become truth and life to me. Let the words of Scripture bubble up in my thinking all day long and become actions taken and words spoken. Let all I do, and I say, and all that I am emerge from the ground of Your powerful Word at all times. Amen.
from Preparing for Battle: A Spiritual Warfare Workbook by Mark Bubeck

As I read and prayed this am I thought, WOW, can I be like this? What a miracle of grace that would be. For me, warts and all, to literally have God's Word so deeply implanted and growing that it spills out in every situation - WOW! Only a miracle of God's grace can allow a woman like me to bow at His feet and be used as His willing servant. May it be so! WOW!

What we have been missing

The past week has been an absolute whirlwind. After three long years I completed graduate school. No small thing at my advancing age (ok, Im not THAT old). The days leading up to graduation were a blur. So many things to get done, my program was on line so attending and presenting my gradute project was about an eight hour drive each way. Practicing the presentation, making sure that my poster was right and that I had a way to make it stand up - thank God for foam board and those handy 3M removeable stick on strips. It all went very well and then the let down........
Why do we do that to ourselves? WOW - I was so tired that I could barely put one foot in front of the other Monday. That is no exaggeration. Amazing what 9 hours sleep will do and knowing that at least for three days I didnt have to study. Only go to work. Still have to prepare for a national certification exam so there is probably two more months until we can say the magic six words we have been savoring for what seems like forever: when Mom gets out of school.....
The list is endless. The house needs to be painted, outside work abounds, so much has been left undone for three years.
Did I hear someone say that I should take the time to relax? Uhhh let me think about that. I like to relax, its really fun. My favorite spot is anytime I can sit and look at the ocean. Hard to do when you are land locked though. And I have paint chips to decide on, classes I really want to teach for our staff and things I havent done these years that are calling my name. So when I get to heaven, I will rest, and if that isnt the plan, I will have a new body to work in. That works.
In the meantime, can you take a look at those paint chips for me, I have to get back to the books for at least a few weeks longer............ Have a wonderful Mother's Day!