Fall

I am seriously digging the weather we have today!! I love fall anyway, but this is our first real taste of it and I'm so excited about it!! It's cool, windy (maybe a little too windy), cloudy...I just want to sit in my reading chair all day and read a good book! Perhaps with my blanket and a cup of coffee too. That's a darn near perfect day! Too bad Shane is working. If he were home, we could snuggle on the couch all day! Cold(er) weather is so good for so many things. Reading, snuggling, playing in the leaves with the kids, camping (as long as it's not too cold). It's great to be able to run around in jeans and a sweatshirt too. Football is always better when it's chilly out. I know I probably sound like a kook, but I can't help it! I think I'm gonna go read now! :)

The Importance of Friends

Last night I went out with my friend Laura and her friend Kelli. $2 margaritas at Hacienda are AWESOME!!! Anyway, it's been a long time since I've had friends. When I met Shane, my world shifted to him. I only wanted to be with him and gradually all my friends just kinda slipped away. 10 years later it was starting to catch up with me. I started to feel really lonely and a bit depressed. I didn't have any friends outside of the family that I could talk to. I love my family, and Kelly is wonderful, but it's just not the same, you know? I started to feel that my defining characteristic was wife and mother, which is a huge part of who I am, but it's not all of me. There's so much more to me than just that. So somewhere down the line, I lost myself. Then I found Laura on Facebook a few months ago. It's been great finding her again. She got me started going to church, we go out every now and then (like last night). And little by little I'm finding me again. It's great! So this is why friends are so important...they keep us sane!!!

Sadness

Today my heart is breaking. A girl I went to school with has lost her little girl. I wasn't a close friend to this person when we were in school, and we didn't keep in touch after, but this still makes my heart sad. I can't imagine what she and her family are going thru, and frankly I hope I never have to find out. But at times like these we have to trust God. We have to believe that He has our best intentions at heart. Otherwise, we would get swallowed up with grief. Her little girl was only 6 months old. It doesn't make any sense, does it? Why would God take someone so small home? My only guess is that this little girl was so special that God wanted her with him. We know she's in a better place, we know that she's safe, happy, and without pain. We just need to trust in God that He'll bring the rest of the family thru this. I pray for peace and understanding for them.

Time

Aren't my babies adorable? I thought I'd mix up my normal blogs and start adding pics. This one was taken on Luke's 1st day of pre-school this year. My how the time has flown. It seems like only yesterday that Shane and I were at Memorial waiting on Jadyn to arrive (well, he waited, I did all the work!). Now here it is 5 years later and my baby girl is in Kindergarten, and my baby is in pre-school. It's like I blinked and 5 years just flew by. I guess I shouldn't have blinked, huh? I'm afraid I might have missed something.

On a completely different note, I started group last night, and I really enjoyed it. I like the other women at my table, and I'm always up for reading a book. We'll see what the future holds. :)

Just a Smidge of Gripe

Yesterday was a bit of a lazy day. We went to church, a bit disappointed w/the message, but I guess they can't cater to my likes and dislikes every week, now can they? I just wish they'd lay off the money aspect of it, you know? I don't want to go to church and hear about the new giving kiosk they've got or how much it costs to run a church. I appreciate the fact that, w/as big as our church is, it costs some buku bucks to keep the place running smoothly. I also understand that giving in offering and titheing are important. But do we really need to have not one, but two messages on it? Our series right now is 'If today was your last day, what would you do?', and frankly, the haven't even touched on that subject. It's been all about money for the past two weeks. I like the messages that mean something to me, that make me want to talk about it to someone. I want to talk about these messages, but not in a good way. I want to be able to tell people about how this message touched me, or stayed w/me. I'm getting nothing out of the messages the past two weeks. Does that make me a bad Christian? I want to shout from the rooftops that I'm a believer, that I love Jesus, that only thru Him are we saved! And yet these messages have gotten me down. I need to pray about it, that's what I need to do. Thanks for listening to me gripe! Stay tuned for more...

My (rather fast) Journey to Christ

Here's a story: I was baptized last week! It was awesome! It was a bit of a whirlwind, my return to Christ. I had always believed in God, but didn't receive Christ as my Savior. I found an old high school friend of mine on Facebook. I was going thru some things in my life at the time, feeling all alone and a bit depressed. She told me I should try GCC. I didn't see what the good of it would be. I mean, I didn't know how just going to church would help me. But I did try it. I almost didn't. I gathered up my kids and Kelly (my friend and cousin) and went to church one Sunday. The message was about judging. The crazy thing is, Kelly and I had been talking about that very same thing on the car ride to church! I promise you, when we heard the message was about judgement, our eyes were as big as saucers! It was a wonderful message, and it just reached out and took hold of me. I think I finally got it, you know? I accepted Christ that very day, and have never looked back! Then I started hearing about Baptism '09. I didn't really think much of it at first. Then on a Sunday a few weeks after I started attending church again, I was sitting at home (after church of course), watching a Nascar race on TV, not thinking about anything in particular. I suddenly had a "Flash of Thought" as I like to call it. My flash of thought was about me getting baptized. It was so awesome! And I thought maybe God was trying to lead me to get baptized. At the time, the baptism Sunday was busy for me. I wouldn't have been able to do it. So I prayed about it, wondering if God wanted me to do it this year or next year. Suddenly that Sunday opened right up! And still I questioned it. I made the decision to wait until next year, so that I was a bit more stable in my faith. The decision I made for myself didn't sit well with me. My spirit wasn't ok with the decision. So I continued to pray about it. Then I went out to dinner with my friend Laura (the one I had found from high school). She was telling me about baptism and why she thought I should do it. I figured if that wasn't God smacking me upside the head, I didn't know what was! So I came home and talked to my husband about it. I made the decision to do it this year, and I immediately knew it was the right decision! I felt peace about it. God had truly lead me to this momentous decision! I was baptized 2 weeks after that, just this past Sunday. I can't begin to tell you how great it was! I have never felt so loved in my whole life. I felt God closer than I've ever felt Him before. It was the most amazing experience of my life. I wish everyone would go thru the experience! It's truly amazing! That's it for today. Stay tuned for more tomorrow...or later today, I don't know!

A Bit About Me

Bear w/me! I'm a new blogger! I'm learning as I go. For those who don't know me, I'm Heather. Mother of 2 beautiful children. Wife to the most amazing guy on the face of the planet, and all around decent person. At least I think so! Anyway, I have no idea what to write on a blog, but I'll probably write about anything and everything! Stay tuned for more...