Thursday, January 29, 2004

Winter in the mid west

Ah, it's cold and there is snow falling, what more could you ask for. Well I could think of several things... Sun, 70 degree temperatures, more sun. I am excited though my mom and the kids and I are going to visit my sister and her family in Florida in two weeks. I will get to go to the beach in February and get a little sun. We won't be there for long, but it will be nice to get a way from here.

Just when I start to get the least bit of feeling of what more could happen I read Tara's blog and thank the Lord for what I have. Tara I am so sorry for all that is happening to you. You guys must be doing something right that is causing Satan to attack you so. Your family is in my constant prayer. I wish I could be there to help you guys. I think that Damon and Kaleb would love to play with each other.

Well Justin and I have picked a night now is just time to pick a date to start our small group/house church. I am really looking forward to it. I just pray that it works out. I feel ready to do this again and to have people in my home all the time.

I think that my new favorite movie is You've Got Mail. I know it's been around for a while, but I love romantic comedies and this just makes me laugh and cry all the time. It's been on TV a lot lately and I love to watch it each time it is on. It warms my heart right up.

In the last week Kaleb has changed so much. He's gone from barely being able to reach door knobs to just about being able to turn the knob and open the door. I found him and Abbie behind the rocking chair in his room today with a box of Cheese Nip. Kaleb had a handful of them in his hand and he was just shoving them in as fast as he could. It was something that I would love to have taken a picture of but I didn't want them to think that it was alright.

I've been thinking about getting a license to sell real estate, but the schooling and money just make it seem too hard to do. I just think that I maybe afraid I don't know. I want to help people find homes or apartments or something like that. I want to be a relocation specialist. I just don't know how I am going to do that. I guess that if I am really interested I just need to go to one of the million places offering real estate seminars.

Well I have gone on and on and on. I guess it's time to go for now.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Stuff

Well it's just another day around the Clark household. The kids and I went to the mall today to just walk around. It was nice to get out of the house. We have decided to not get a second car for a while. We have managed along this far I guess it won't hurt us to go a little longer. We just don't have it in our budget. Sure we could put more on the credit card, but after our tax return that will be paid off. So we are just going to try to continue to not add anymore debt to what we already have. If we didn't have Justin's school loans life would be good. Maybe once we hear about when he is going to get promoted to his own store. With the raise that he gets we will be able to add a car payment. I did take him to work today and that worked out fine. So basically I just need to do that more often.

I feel good about everything. I feel like God is in control and we are doing our best. I hope to start something soon with some kind of Bible Study for women my age or a House Church thing. I think that now is the time and we are ready to really do it. Life is good.

Sunday, January 25, 2004

SNOW

We have finally had a big snow. It started snowing at about noon today and around 6 it turned to sleet. Now it has stopped and there is a light sheen of ice on the 5 inches of snow. It looks very beautiful. Justin is on his way home from work early right now. I am praying that he makes it home safely. It could take him a couple hours, I hope not.

We didn't go to church today. They were going over the notes of the governing board and the things they have planned. I just didn't want to sit through a Sunday service about that. So we played hookie.

Keep Justin in your prayers. There are many things about his job that are up in the air. He's not going to lose it, but we are waiting to hear about a promotion or something.

Right now if all goes well we will be leaving here for our trip to Las Vegas on April 25. We are driving so we should get there by late on the 27 and then are leaving on May 3, I believe.

I am so thankful and blessed to have healthy kids. I have heard so much lately about children being sick that it makes me feel that much more thankful that my children are healthy.

Friday, January 23, 2004

God's in Control

I could be very depressed with how things are here right now, but I'm not. It's very odd how I feel right now. I feel like God has total control right now. I feel very much at peace right now.

Sunday, January 18, 2004

Stuff

At church today someone other than our pastor gave the message. I really kind of felt like I was at a leadership seminar. He did a really good job and made everyone laugh a lot. It just felt like I should have been sitting at a business seminar with a bunch of other business people and not in a church sanctuary.

My most favorite thing that Kaleb does is when he gives me hugs. He'll be walking around the room and just come over and lay his head on my leg and give me a hug. Or if I'm standing in the kitchen he'll just come over and hug my leg. It is the best thing to get a hug from him. I love my children so very much. Even when they wake up at 3:00am and don't want to go back to bed(Abbie).

Justin maybe getting a promotion sooner than we thought. He doesn't want to get his hopes up, but he could be getting promoted to the GM position at the store just up the street from us. His boss told him that he needs to teach the other manager the scheduling and ordering because he(justin) could be leaving in as little as 2 weeks. This would be a great and wonderful answer to prayer. He would be working just 5 minutes from home instead of 40. It would be so nice to have him so much closer to home. Please keep him and us in your prayers.

Saturday, January 17, 2004

Three Blind mice

Today Abbie showed me why we are here in Cincinnati. She was sitting at the piano at Justin's parents home with Kaleb and her Grandma. She was trying to play the piano the best she could and sing her best rendition of Three Blind Mice. It made me laugh at first to hear her, but then I thought how wonderful it was to see her with her Grandma just singing away. I love it when God answers a pray of mine through my children. He showed me that this could not happen if we weren't here. Abbie loves being with her Grandparents and I love that she can be with them. I always loved spending time with my grandma. She was my best friend until she passed away. I miss her still and it's been over 12 years now. I am so glad that Abbie gets to have the chance to be with her grandma the same way that I did.

Friday, January 16, 2004

missing relationships

I am missing something. I am missing a bible study, group discussion, community. Justin and I are struggling a little financially and I have found that it's part of not having a regular time with God. We have neglected our God and we are seeing the repercussions. Justin and I have always been very blessed and have always had what we needed. Now I think that we are trying to do it all on our own and not looking to God for help. I miss my house church and Apex and my community.

I haven't found where I belong here yet. I feel pulled in so many directions but don't know where to start. I want to be there for my friends and be a better example for them, but I also need something. My heart is aching and I need direction. I just don't know where to start here.

can't sleep

I can't sleep so I decided that I would get on the computer. There are just too many things going through my head right now. My daughter is asleep in our bed. She must have come in sometime during the night. I looked over to see her and she kicked me in the face. So I decided that was her telling me to get out of bed. So now I am here rambling on about nothing.

My sister and her kids are going back to Florida today. I wish she didn't have to. I love my sister and Abbie loves playing with her cousins. I wish they were here all the time. Jess wishes they could live here and be with family, but her husband wants to stay in Florida. I can't say that I blame him, but it's just easier to.

Well I would go on some more, but at the moment I can't put a complete thought together.

Saturday, January 10, 2004

The ties that bind us

Life can be so strange. I was looking through some other blogs the other day. I just choose one off the blogger home page and it happend to be a guy in Aulstralia. He is a Christian and involved in House Church's there. I thought that was a little interesting. Then the other day I looked at a few of his links on his blog. One sent me to a lady in South Africa who is a Christian and looking for church other than big church. She wrote today about a blog she found of another guy in South Africa who does house churches. I went to his link which had several links too, one of which was Kevin Rains. I went to his sight and he is part of Vineyard Central here in Cincinnati. Then on his was a link to joe boyd. It just seemed so funny to me how one random blog choice could bring me all the way back around to Joe. I think that I may have just found 6 degress of Joe Boyd or something like that. Oh well, just thought you would like to know.

ps- it is soo cold here

Thursday, January 08, 2004

My best friend Angie and her youngest daughter Autumn came over today. Abbie loved having someone around to play with. I loved having another adult around to talk to. Angie and I have been friends since we were kids living next door to each other. I love that our girls get to be friends now too. Angie's been through some of my tougher times with me and I have been there with her. I am glad that now we are able to spend some better times together. Her and her husband would benefit so much from a house church but I don't know if they would come. I keep trying to get something started but I am not doing a very good job.

Our church is going to do the Purpose Driven Life, which I am hoping will help with getting house church things started. As I was sitting in church on Sunday I realized how little there was for people my age to help us to continue to grow in our walk. We have Sunday school classes for up through high school and then nothing till your an older adult. I think that our pastor knows that there needs to be something but he's not sure where to start. He's encouraged Justin and I but I feel like I need some more help. Justin's too busy to help me also. I just don't know where to begin. There needs to be something to help us to grow. Otherwise there is no reason to go.

Well I would keep going, but I have a to get a crying child. I will finish this later.

Sunday, January 04, 2004

rain rain go away

It has been raining pretty much non stop since early yesterday afternoon. It's a steady hard rain. There are flood warnings and watches. We have nothing to worry about except that the temps are going to go from the 50's down to the 20's. Hopefully it will end soon.

Saturday, January 03, 2004

bonding

Who would have known that the best thing for me to see today was my husband playing with Veggie Tale Play-dough with my daughter. I love watching them bond together and enjoy their morning together making Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber characters. My dad, who I love very much, never really played too many games or things with me. It just makes me so happy when I see my wonderful Justin taking the time to sit an accomplish nothing but spending time with his 2 year old. Life is good.