High School Homecoming week

My daughter is a junior in high school this year and this week was homecoming week. I am not sure what the traditions in other places are but the area we live in celebrate homecoming week of the football season by different dress up days. This year Samantha's school had Pajama day on Monday. Since she just wore sweatpants and a t-shirt there are not any pictures. I do want to share pictures of the rest of the week.

Tuesday - Decades Day




Wednesday - Nerd Day




Thursday - Character Day



Friday- School out for weather so no dress up

The finally picture I want to share is so you can see just how beautiful she is.

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Faithful in little

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" Matthew 25:21

This week God has just knocked me over with a lesson I should have learned a long time ago. Back in the summer of 2008 God called me to to began sharing my story of depression, bi-polar, suicide attempts and His saving love, grace and mercy. I spoke a couple of times to our church during special services but God was calling me to do more. In December 2008 I finally agreed with God and even shared with my women's group that I was going to start a speaking ministry. Then I waited and waited and waited. I waited for the right words to come. I waited for an opportunity to speak to be opened to me but these things never came. I prayed for the last several months asking God why he called me to this ministry and then shut all the doors. I felt so lost and alone not able to hear His reply. Finally, early this week as I read the Parable of the Talents, a story I have heard and read since I was little I heard my answer for God. His direct and clear words were, " How can I trust you in the bigger ministry I have called you to if you are not faithful to the little things I have called you to." See there are things that God has told me to do such as speak to a certain person, buy someone groceries or spend more time with Him. These are the small things that I have not been faithful in so therefore, He has not given me the bigger calling. I compare it to a parent not allowing a child to go to a party because they have not fulfilled the agreement to clean their room. Since I have learned this lesson and taken it to heart by asking my Father to forgive me He has opened several doors.

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WAVE ON WAVE

“You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations.”
Psalms 65:7

Have you ever just sat on the beach and watched as the waves crested and then slammed down on the beach? The waves come one after another. As one hits the beach, one is cresting and another one is just building.
That is the best way I can explain the way my thoughts were being tossed about in my mind yesterday morning. I was on my drive into the office as these many thought waves came: a wave of worry for a meeting my daughter would be having at school, concern for a friend’s family, unease over medical test my dad would be having and the waves just continued to crash in my mind. All of these were things I had no control over neither in my mind nor in reality.
I turned off my regular morning radio show and just cried out to God. I cried all my worries, all my hurt, all my angry, all my regret along with all my praise and thanksgiving for about 45 minutes. As I entered the office parking deck I began drying my tears. I turned the radio back on and I put it on the Christian music station. The song playing was “How He Loves” by David Crowder Band.
God spoke to us through that song even though I had heard it many times. I realized that no matter what is going in my life He loves us. Because He loves us He will take care of us. Because He loves us He will work all things out for His glory. Because of His love, He gives us our family and friends to encourage and support us. All we are is because He loves us.
So next time the waves start coming one after another instead of allowing them to drown you, let them wash His love over you.

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Stuck in the Swamp Again

We have a beautiful pond in front of our house. This pond is feed by a small stream that flows through our yard underground. Most of the time the stream goes unnoticed that is until we have a large amount of rain falls in a short time, then it becomes swamp like. This is exactly what happened a few weeks ago. Because of the rain, the grass grown and needed had to be cut. While Mike did the trim work with the weed-eater I rode the new and larger than normal John Deere lawnmower. In my attempt to complete the whole two and a half acres in one day, I thought that the “swamp” was dry enough to drive through. Boy was I ever wrong. After a couple of attempts to go forward, back up, turn the wheel one way, and then turn the wheel another way, I had to admit I was stuck. I yelled for Mike to come help get me out. He hooked the 4-wheeler to the front of the mower, and pulled it slowly out of the thick muck and mire. After he checked it to make sure nothing was wrong he said, “Finish the rest of the lawn. I’ll take care of this part later.” I cut a few more rounds, all the time trying to think of how to get the tall unsightly grass cut out of the swamp. I knew Mike had said don’t worry about it but he had his hands full weed-eating the ditches, around the trees, and all the way around the pond by himself. So, yes, you guessed it. I decided to wander off into the swamp again, and yes, I got stuck again. I called for Mike’s help, and although I knew he was a little upset and a lot frustrated with me, he came to my rescue. Once he had pulled the now mud-brown John Deere out of the swamp, he asked, “Why did you drive through there again?” I replied, “I thought if I went in at a different angle I would be able to make it through.”

As I finished cutting the lawn, away from the swamp, God revealed to me that my tendency to look at some sins in the same way I viewed that swamp. I thought if I tried to go into a sinful area at a different angle and with a different attitude, or perhaps days later, I would make it through on my own. Yet, just as with the swamp, I continue to find myself stuck and trying to maneuver my own way out. It is not until I call on God that I am finally pulled from the miry clay and set back on solid ground.

I have been stuck in a sin swamp many times. At times I have tried to go back into a situation at a different angle. Once knee-deep and unable to free myself I realize that it is only God who can rescue me. He needs only to hear me call out to him, and He reaches down to pull me out of that muck and mire I had gotten myself in to.

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Welcome to Harmony!

I have been lead to write a blog for the last few months but felt very incompetent as I surfed through bloggerville read all the wonderful tales everyone has to share. The more I read the more the thoughts of, "Am I really capable of writing something that others would want to read and that will think deeper or feel more?" and " Will my words be adequate to be used by God to inspire, uplift and/or encourage other?" Because of my fears and doubts I just wrote in my personal journal but God continued to tug at my heart to share my stories with others. Once I finally said YES to God's calling I was stunned with the way He opened my heart and my eyes to all the ways He has taught and is still teaching my life lessons. It is my prayer that He will use these lessons, as I share them here, to bless you.

Once I came to agree with God about this blogging thing, I tried to find just the "right" title for it. All the other blogs I had been reading had either very cute, catchy or deeply meaningful titles. As I compiled my list I found that what I had come up with was either taken or they didn't really fit. Then one night as I was spending some quite time writing in my journal and praying God spoke to my heart "Living in Harmony". Why did I decide this was perfect title fit for my blog? Harmony is the name of the small community I have called home for the last 22 years. It is the place that God has truly grown my heart to desire to live in harmony with Him. So “Living in Harmony” has the double meaning of the physical place I live as well as the spiritual place I desire to live.
I would love to know about how others came up with the titles to their own place in the cyberspace. I think the title can tell a lot about the blogger and their passion/desire.

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