I read a passage of scripture today (Luke 1:26-56). It was the story of when the Lord spoke to Mary and informed her that she was pregnant with our Saviour. There were four lines that especially stood out to me.

1. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord
is with you."

2. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.

3. 37For nothing is impossible with God."

4. 51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are
proud in their inmost thoughts.

As I read, I longed to be one that finds favor in the eyes of the Lord. I want to be favored by my Lord. I want Him to be pleased with me. Am I living my life in a way that would please Him and find favor with Him? Really???? Hmmmm!

As I try to live for Him, I must be reminded that nothing is impossible for Him. Often I find myself doubting whether something will work out right or is even possible. NOTHING is impossible with my God though and I must keep that at the forefront of my mind ALWAYS.

Lastly, the verse that speaks of the Lord scattering those who are proud in their inmost thoughts caught my attention. No one but the Lord and ourself knows our inmost thoughts. He knows if we are proud, even when others don't. Something to remember.

Today I pray that I live the moments given to me in a way that pleases God and make Him smile in delight.

ARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!

Can you tell how exasperated I feel right now simply by the title of this entry?

It has been quite some time since I have posted on this blog. I'm not sure how much longer I will continue to write, but I figured I'd give it another shot.

Life has been quite hectic, as always. We are concluding a two week vacation. It can probably be summed up as horrible. We camped our first week.... constant rain. Our second week began with a house fire at the home of my inlaws.

I've concluded that vacations are simply not good for us as of late. They provide absolutely no refreshment or lift to our energy levels. They are actually quite draining.

During our last vacation, my mother died. During this vacation, my inlaws lost their home of 40 years. At this point I think I might cancel all future vacations! Seriously!

On that note, I'm going to log off and clean my carpets because that is what I do when I'm feeling overwhelmed... I clean.

By the way, I hope you like the new lay out of my blog. Pretty nifty if I do say so myself!

God IS good. I believe that with all my heart.

That being said, it has been a discouraging week. Though I tried to look for the bright spots, it was clear that darkness loomed at every turn.

There have been many things on my heart this week... many things that have caused my heart to ache.

• An officer's child in the division had a horrible accident.
• One of our congregation members is really struggling as he tries to figure out life.
• My uncle (who lives with my dad) is going to die... probably sometime this weekend. He is actually my Godfather (my family was catholic when I was a kid). My heart hurts for my dad.
• One of our learning center kids will face an unthinkable weekend. His mentor killed himself last night.

These are just of few of those troublesome things that have happened this week. There are others, but those I share with God alone.

In the midst of all of this, God has shown me his goodness in the smiles of my children.... in the embrace of a wonderful husband... in the support of friends... in His word that reminds me that I do not need to be dismayed or discouraged because He is my strength.

With Jesus there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Please pray for those mentioned above.

I picked up flowers today for the Easter Sunday worship service. I of course didn't think ahead and as they were bringing out our carts of flowers I realized that I only had Jim's car ;) We managed to get them all in the car though.

As we were taking the flowers into the corps we were bombarded with homeless people. We didn't have our soup kitchen today because the entire Area Services was closed. We have had signs posted for a few weeks, but obviously not everyone got the message. I scrambled around the corps trying to find food for these folks. One of the guys asked me why we were closed. I of course explained that it was Good Friday and that our staff was all off for the weekend. As he took the bagged lunch I had made up for him I couldn't help but ask myself: WHY are WE closed today? I of course want to reflect on the sacrifice made for me today, however, it would probably be more fitting for me to share and sacrifice for my neighbor.

This winter an email conversation circulated around our division's area coordinators discussing when it was appropriate to close our facilities due to weather... How bad does the weather have to be for The Salvation Army to close?... that was the big question. I understand the need to care for our staff and keep them safe. At the same time, we are an organization and a ministry who is called to help those in need. Even in the worst weather, there are people who need a hot meal, a warm building to sit in, a hot shower, a hot drink, a safe place to relax.... I could go on forever here. In a lot of cases, The Salvation Army serves as a "home" to the homeless. They need these services even more in that really bad weather and on the holidays. So what do we do?

We do close for holidays. We rarely close for weather. I don't know the answer.... but will ponder and figure out how to be there for our homeless brothers and sisters even in the midst of holiday celebrations.

Wow... I didn't realize how long it had been since I wrote last! I really don't have much time to keep up with this blog anymore. I enjoy reading the thoughts of others (at least most of the time), but I really don't spend much time doing that either. I do have a few moments now though and thought I'd jot down some info. on my exciting week.

I have been working like crazy. I learned how to write for a grant over the course of the last month. The preliminary part of the grant was approved and permission was given to continue on in the process and submit a full grant application. I was very excited about that one. New things!! New things!! That is due in two weeks.

I also have an inspection coming up that could provide our preschool with a lot of money! That happens on March 25th so please pray. There is a lot involved in that but I don't feel like discussing it further. I have been really working hard on our learning center and child care programs though over the course of the last six months and I am seeing the results. Praise God!

This was an exciting week.... not "good" exciting, but "uncomfortable/scary" exciting. Jim was in D.C. again and I was home for a week alone with the kids. Early Friday morning someone broke into our garage (which is attached to the house). It has been a long day with much running and by the time I got home around 9:00pm that evening I was shot. I accidently left my purse in my car.

I woke very early on Friday because I had to go and purchase milk for breakfast. That is when I found my car absolutely ransacked. The thief took my camera out of the car, which I had used that evening to film my son's baseball lesson, and my wallet. Papers, receipts, everything was thrown everywhere.

I was so freaked when I realized what had happened. I was even more freaked when it hit me that someone had been in my house while my children and I slept. Someone could have walked another 5 feet to the door that separates my garage and kitchen and done who knows what....

It has been a complete hassle. My ss card was in my wallet (yes I know it wasn't supposed to be but I had used it). So now my ss card and my license are gone, along with all my credit cards, (personal and business )and literally about 20 receipts I was to give to the Army for either gas charges or reimbursements. Big pain!

I don't have a copy of my birth certificate (my parents kept that and who knows where that ended up). I need that to get my license in order to have id to get my ss. card. Vicious cycle!

That isn't even the worst part... I am psychologically freaked out. I didn't sleep much at all and when I did, I of course had nightmares. It is just so scary to think about the fact that someone came into our home and we didn't know it.

I have to stop thinking about it for a bit. Pray for my peace of mind.



Well... I'm off for now. Be safe and stay close to our Lord.

Tommy

I have a friend named Tommy who has taught me some very valuable lessons in recents weeks. Tommy is 3 1/2 years old. He is very rowdy and typically gets in a lot of trouble. Tommy has long blonde hair and huge blue eyes that truly sparkle.

The first few weeks I began working out of our Child Development Center, I got to know Tommy very well... basically because he spent a lot of time in my office in time-out!

I have made it a point to see each child in our CDC as unique individuals that were created to stand out in our crazy world in their own unique way. Tommy is no exception.

Tommy has hit me, kicked me, bit me, and screamed at me over the course of the last few months. I have continued to love him. He has also hugged me, giggled with me, and given me gifts. Tommy tells me he loves me every day. "I love you Cappin Sue" are the first words I hear from Tommy each morning. I have tried to teach Tommy how to behave and why he must behave. He is truly trying and getting better with his behavior. I sit with Tommy and let him be him. He is really great!

He often says to me, "I bein good Cappin Sue". That is a huge breakthrough. Tommy is doing his best to please me. He wants to be good because he knows it makes me happy. Today he is trying to please me and make me happy but someday Tommy is going to try to please Jesus and make Him happy.

I feel like God is bringing me back to the basics in recent weeks. He is stripping all control and order from my life. I cannot remember the last time that I actually was able to follow through on my daily plans. That had been aggravating to me, but not so much anymore. I am doing exactly what I was called to do... share the love of Jesus. Tommy represents mission for me. Jesus has started to change Tommy... there is a difference. Jesus is hope and I see the hope in Tommy's eyes and I can now see the hope of a godly future for Tommy. Wow!!!

Chronicles of Cross Country

For those of you that are sick of listening or reading rather my stories about our daughter's cross country experiences this season, please accept my apologies and just know that the season is almost over.

The kiddo had a REMARKABLE race last Saturday. The race was the regional race that decided which four teams from the region (16 total) and which 16 individuals would quality for the State Meet. Katie came in fourth in the region. No one expected her to do that well. Her coaches assumed that she would qualify in the top 16, but they figured she would come in 10th or 12th. She ran 59 seconds faster than her best race of the season (which took place in mid September). She ran the 3.1 miles in 18:48. She was one second from getting third place and four seconds behind second place.... INCREDIBLE! For those that are not familiar with cross country, it is not too often that a freshman girl runs under 19 minutes and to go to States as a freshman is a big deal.

We go down to Columbus on Friday and she actually runs on Saturday at 12:35 pm. Pray for her safety if you can. There are about 125 kids that all run in a huge pack as the various runners try to break away and I always worry that she will get hurt in some way.

She has a wonderful perspective on things. When she got home last Saturday night she began wondering out loud why God would have her going to the State Meet. She thinks that maybe God wants her to speak to someone there about Him. She is my great!

Well you may have to suffer through one more post about Cross Country... but it is my blog after all. Have a great weekend.