Try Again!

This past week, my daughter has been practicing how to tie her shoelaces. It's one of the skills that they stress in kindergarten and she has not mastered it as of yet. Blame it on those 'oh so convenient Velcro straps' that they have on shoes now. She's doing pretty well but becomes so frustrated with it. I think that she believes that it is something she would learn right away. She is a fast learner and she does get pretty obsessive with a task until she's successful at it (sounds like anyone you know? her dad!).
I've been trying to motivate and encourage her. I've told her more times than I can count that if you try something and you don't succeed then you keep trying. I told her that she should not give up. She's persistent and not about to give up but she does get upset by her efforts.
Watching her has gotten me thinking about how things become second nature to us. Like tying your shoelaces. Now I do it without putting much thought into it.
This is very similar to handling stressful situations in life. At first it appears unbearable. It is such a hurdle and we cannot imagine getting over it. Then as time goes by, little by little, we get "comfortable" with the situation. Sometimes regardless of whether or not we've had resolution. We are not happy about the situation but we've got to sort of learn how to live with it. I'm in that phase right now. I feel like the situation that's causing me stress is something I can't really change so I've got to learn how to "live" with it. I'm learning how to just let go and let God. I've got to give it all to Him and trust that He will take care of it.
Although there's no resolution at this time, I cannot allow myself to be so consumed by it that life passes me by. Stress has a way of eating away at a person. Then it also breeds other stress. While I'm stressed, anything else unfavorable that presents itself in my life, might drive me absolutely crazy. So dealing with what's on my plate in a positive way, even if it's not yet resolved will only help me in the long run. I can't allow it to keep me down. I can't give up. I've got to get up, dust myself off and try again!

Moving Mountains

Over the last 2 weeks, I've felt really weary.

Not tired but just plain weary.

There's been so much going on (and still going on) in my life that has been a struggle. We are facing very overwhelming circumstances and I feel like I literally see mountains when I close my eyes.

Another day goes by and then I see more mountains to climb.

I've been trying to stay positive.

Each day I thank God for every blessing.

I know that God is faithful.

I know that He can do everything.

I know that with God all things are possible.

I also know that God can move mountains.

I've been praying for God to move our mountains. My heart is extremely full and it is stressful.

Then I get on the phone with friends and I listen to their struggles and challenges too. I think, Lord, what is going on? Why are so many people struggling? The devil is surely hard at work.

Yesterday, my husband and I spent most of the day laughing. Yep, we laughed. Not because we wanted to but because we had to. Laughter really is such good medicine. At first I started laughing because we had just heard some more bad news and I just couldn't believe how much bigger our mountain had gotten. At one point, he said, "why are you laughing? This is not funny!" I said, "I know but if I don't laugh then I'm going to cry!" Soon after, he was laughing too. Laughing is very contagious.

We spoke with some friends later in the day and couldn't believe what was happening with them. Their mountain was a lot bigger than ours. That put things into perspective for us. No matter how bad you have it, there are other people struggling too. People who might be going through worse than you. It doesn't make you feel better but sometimes when you hear it, you realize how much you have to be thankful for.

We still have our mountains, but we are trusting in God. My childhood pastor would say, "God is in the mountain moving business!" So I'm going to patiently wait on the Lord to move these mountains for us. In the meantime, I will take it one day at a time. There's a whole lot of problems that I can get from being stressed out. I don't need that added to my other problems. So each day I will count my blessings and make every effort to laugh.

Have you laughed today???

One little known fact about me is...

I read Psalms 23 every night before I go to my bed. No kidding! Growing up, I watched my grandmother read Psalms 23 every night and even my mother did it too. My grandmother would also leave her Bible opened and left on Psalms 23. She thought that this would offer her protection from evil spirits. It might sound a bit comical now but I think because she had faith that she would be protected by doing that ritual, then she was always protected by God.

Reading Psalms 23 makes me feel safe. I feel loved and protected by God. I know that He is watching over me and that gives me comfort.

I can remember as a child going through a frightening hurricane and my Mom and I read Psalms 23 by candlelight. After we were done reading, I felt safe and not as frightened. I learned as a child to seek comfort in reading Psalms 23 whenever I felt scared. Today I continue to read, not from fear, but because it reminds me of the kind of God I serve. The Lord is my shepherd!

Psalm 23

The Lord the shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

I will fear no evil;

For you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

What's Up Todd Squad?

It's been a while since I've blogged. Not really sure what happened except I could never seem to get my thoughts together to sit and write or I was too busy to even think about blogging.

During the past week, our family had many things on our plate that we've had to deal with. I'm not going to share the details because there are things about my life that I like to keep private (especially off the web). God knows our situation and even in the midst of the bad, we saw good. We are very thankful for that. God blesses us every single day and it's important that we always take a moment to appreciate that. Look around you and see that there is life happening. That in itself is truly a blessing from our creator!

We were away for July 4th celebrating with our family in Ft. Lauderdale. We had such an awesome time. My parents had a barbecue at their house and I saw a cousin of mine that I haven't seen in about 15 years. It was so nice to talk with her. It was wonderful being surrounded by family like that. There were aunts and cousins from both of my parents' sides of the family. Greg's parents also joined us for the barbecue and we were so thrilled. It was fantabulous!!! Here are some pictures...

The next day we celebrated our godson's first birthday. It rained but we were still able to have a good time. It didn't rain all day so the kids were able to do slip n' slide, water guns and sprinklers. They had so much fun! Arjay slept through it all. Still it was a great time together and another awesome cookout. I'll share a few pictures... After getting back from Ft. Lauderdale, we had to deal with the "bad" that I mentioned earlier. It is still being resolved and we are trusting God to take care of it just like He has done so many times before. A few days later something really good happened. I will share about this soon but for now I don't want to jinx it.

So on to more of what's been going on with Todd Squad. Our daughter spent last week at princess dance camp. She spent a whole week (I dropped her off each day for a few hours) doing ballet and tap dancing. She loved it so much and had so much fun. The last day they had a recital (a very small performance). It was so cute to watch. She was in "princess" heaven and of course being that she's so girly girl she enjoyed every minute of being a ballerina.

Our son had a cold a few weeks back and couldn't get rid of a cough so I took him to see the doctor. It turns out he has a post-nasal drip and he's now on antibiotics and it will last for 2 weeks. Hopefully he will be all better soon.

Besides that, my husband and I were able to go on a "date " yesterday. We saw a movie and went to a restaurant called "Fuego"Brazilian Steakhouse (Churrascaria). It was pretty good and they gave good portions of meat and sides. The best part is we spent under $25 for both our meals, and we even had dessert. No kidding, the price was pretty unbelievable to us. We would definitely go back again.

Greg's parents also visited last night. They were actually just spending the night. They were traveling back home from Gainesville. It was a short visit and the kids were really sad to see them leave this morning. They left right before church so getting ready for church was a bit tough with the kids. We did it though and got to church right on time. Church was awesome too. The choir was sensational. They sang really great. The message was very good and we were blessed by it.

I hope we will have an awesome week this coming week.

Later, Alligator!

I'll be off blogging world for a few days. We are off to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow morning. Today has been a busy day of doing laundry and getting our things prepared for the trip. I'm still not finished packing.

We will have a busy weekend. We will attend a barbecue on Friday. Then on Saturday our godson is celebrating his first birthday. We will attend his birthday party which my kids are really excited about.

It is always nice to get together with family and friends. We are looking forward to it.

I hope everyone will have a fun and safe July 4th. Enjoy yourself!

I saw this quote today and I have to share it:

"When you were born, you cried and everyone else was happy. Live your life in such a way that when you die, you will be happy and everyone else will cry. "

Storms

I got caught in a thunderstorm today! I took the kids to Seven Oaks pool in Wesley Chapel. I was trying to beat the afternoon rain (it seems like we have been getting rain every afternoon here in Tampa). After about 45 minutes in pool, it started thundering. Five minutes after that we felt the first drops of rain and made a mad dash for our car. Before we got on to State Road 54, the rain started pouring.
I tried my best to navigate through the rain by driving very slowly but it got so bad that I had to pull over. I've always found it a bit frightening to drive in the rain, when there is a huge downpour. It makes me really nervous and I would just rather be safe than sorry anyways. So I waited by the side of the road (actually the turning lane to a townhouse subdivision). We waited for about five minutes and I prayed while I waited. Once the rain cleared up some, I decided to try again and we were able to make it home safely.

Being caught in the storm got me to thinking about how in life we have all gone through major storms, or going through one currently or we are about to go through one. The funny thing about a storm is we might get some signs :thunder, lightning and even wind. But even with the signs, we cannot tell how badly the storm will affect us until we have gone through it. Some people are either bunkered in safely at home, while others are stuck in the midst of the storm. We don't know when we will be the one caught in the storm. The only sure thing we know is that we can count on Jesus. He will never leave nor forsake us.

I've been thinking alot about 2 people in my life who are currently going through the storms of life. My neighbor, Zack, who is currently battling leukemia. Yesterday marked one year since he was diagnosed. I've watched his parents drawn closer to God and I believe in my heart that God has worked a miracle for Zack and his family. I believe in Jesus. I know he CAN. I know with God nothing is impossible. Therefore, I am believing for Erik that he will get healed of lymphoma. His journey has just begun; he will start chemo tomorrow. They are in the midst of a storm and would appreciate all your prayers. Remember, God is able!

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall
lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19)