Blessings

I'm learning how to be less stubborn. 

I told a friend in an e-mail a few days ago that I was working on this, and she said: "I didn't know you were stubborn." Hmmm... if only people knew. 

I am stubborn. I don't like to be wrong, and when I am, I try to make excuses for it. I get it from my father. 

Today at work, I was breaking someone in the infant room, and boy, I never thought I'd be in there (I don't want babies!). But as the hour was passing, I was telling a new friend, Christy, as she was swaddling a baby, that I swaddle myself at night, because our house is cold, and its the best way to keep myself warm. (We live in a very old house that does not keep heat well) I wasn't thinking anything of it, because I have told what seems to be a hundred people about it. I mentioned to her that I would eventually need to get an electric blanket for this winter. 

I'm a bus driver, so I'm only in the building for half the day, and when I returned from my last bus run, she met me in one of the empty rooms. She said "Emma, close your eyes." I thought she had a baby dressed up really funny or something, but when she told me to open them, she had an electric blanket for me. I was a bit overwhelmed. (Christy just got married this past weekend) We got to talking about the blanket, and she mentioned that she felt as though she was so blessed by the money that she had been given for her wedding, that she wanted to use some of it to bless some people! Can you believe that??? She used her wedding money to buy me an electric blanket!!! I'm baffled. I had no words other than thank you. Talk about being selfless. I'm still in awe. I can't believe it. 

Thanks be to Jesus for creating people with the ability to have that kind of attitude, one that clearly mimics part of who He is. How great is our God? 

How Great is Our God

I spent almost two hours last night worshiping with a friend down at the Boiler Room. It wast open worship, and there were two guitars. I didn't think I was going to last long, seeing as how I haven't played in some time, but once we got going, and people joined in, it was unstoppable. 

I've never thought I was amazing at something, and I still don't for the most part, but what I do know is that God can use something that you're "just okay" at, and use it in a powerful way to acknowledge him. 

So I've mentioned before that we've all got our struggles, and I won't detail out, but I keep up on a blog where other people who struggle with the same things that I do or have struggled with. It's a great place to anonymously confess, and get help. A verse that was left on someone's post was Hosea 2: 14-17

               "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips, no longer will their names be invoked."

This is originally referring to Israel and the days of the desert wandering. I'm beginning more and more to like the idea of being in this desert. It's not going to be easy, but if it were easy, it wouldn't produce growth. 

A New Beginning... again

There's one thing that's always consistent in my life: inconsistency. If you were to take the time to read back through the previous blogs that I've posted, you'll notice that one this is for sure: inconsistency. Some are long, some are short, some are deep, some are superficial. 

Well I'm going to give it a try again. I'm going to try to keep up an active profile of my life. I may share lots I may share little, but as part of the Sabbatical I am taking, I will be able to share what I'm trekking through, learning, and discovering. 

About 2 months ago, I decided that I was going to be delivered from the sin that holds me down. Being delivered is a much lengthier process than what I had anticipated. Some people are delivered immediately after confession, some however, must go through the dessert. And boy, that's a great place to be. 

If you go to Crossroads, you'll probably understand the idea of the desert. It's a place of dryness, of loneliness, and of a sense of hopelessness. However, in the Bible, God uses deserts as a place to grow people the most. And while I am here, I refuse to allow myself to become lost in the sand. 

A Sabbatical is a period of time set aside to work toward an ultimate goal. My ultimate goal is to reach full fledged inner/outward holistic integrity. 

Although times may be difficult, I will devote my time to never cease searching for what the Lord may do. I am asking him to break down walls that I thought had crumbled, and to continue to break every wall down that has no place in my life. I am on a difficult path, but wouldn't walk it if it wasn't worth it. 

This Old House

I think we might me moving. Absolutely nothing is set in stone, but it is certainly a thought. A serious one at that. We've had a lot of small problems with this house, and I am terrified for the winter heating bill. So. To say the least, I think I'm going to need to start praying hard core for this, and will you too?

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Warning!!!!!!
This blog may be long...but informing, interesting, fun, factual and crazy! Some information may not be suitable for small children or people with weak stomachs.

I want to start of this entry, by throwing out a small apology. Sometimes this blog can be overwhelmingly full of emotion, sometimes good and sometimes bad, and sometimes it has no meaning at all. So there is my apology for the many many readers out there (yeah right) :) and I'm going to continue on with my life.

The Slug From Hell!!!!





This slug lives in our neighbors yard, or maybe in their sewer with Raphael, Donatello, Michaelagelo, and Leonardo. This sucker was big! I'd like to recap the first time that I saw this mutant. I was walking down into our basement to see how bad the flood waters had been. After examining the scene I decidd to head back upstairs to the dry floor. On my way back up, on the outside door, I saw this mammoth of a creature. I was sure it was going to whip out its teeth and latch on. (No, slugs don't really have teeth). I grabbed a box, and threw it in the yard. The neighbors yard that is. Almost a month later, it came back. This time I took it out to the sidewalk, and that's where I made the assumption that it was a spy for the underworld, as I watched it slowly creep to the gutter.



Kung Fu Panda.

I saw the movie Kung Fu Panda again today for work. It was a cute movie. I had already seen it once with Tammy, and a few other people. So nothing was really a surprise. I actually tried to spot flaws, but couldn't find any.
I have recently made a decision to stop watching movies that are inappropriate for me to be watching. Basically anything over the rating of G. I have some specific reasons, but mostly, I don't want to put ideas into my head that I think may one day come true, when they really do only happen in the movies. But a quote from the movie that I liked was. "The secret ingredient is that there is no secret ingredient.


God.
I don't want to leave God out of this Blog. I'm not going to go into detail because that what face to face conversations are made for, but God is doing some good things. I am learning a lot about unfailing love, acceptance, failure, and being a transforming follower of Jesus Christ. Check out Psalm 103: 2-4. Thanks A.

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"Hey why do you love Him? Why? Why do you love God?"

"Me? Why do I love God? You want to know why I love God? I love God because He is so much bigger than I could ever imagine. He is bigger than you, and bigger than me, bigger than everything, so big that I can't ever imagine it. I love God, because no matter how much I love him, He still loves me more. And do you know why I love God the most? I love God because he has saved me from the very pit of Hell. That is why I love God."

-I just woke up from a nap, because I was breathing very heavy, and that's what I was saying to someone at the Boiler Room (someone who isn't really there---yet).