this is our happily ever after

Experiencing God Through Storms

I had to share our sermon notes from today's church service.  The current series "Experiencing God Through..." has been awesome. Today, Tim, our associate pastor gave one of the best sermons I've ever heard about storms in life.  Here are some of my favorite points and thoughts from Tim. 

*So often our Christian culture wants people to get right to praising God in the storm.  We have our favorite Scriptures and lines that we like to say when someone is in crisis like "God works all things together for good for those who love Him"  "God is in control", "God is with you", "God has a purpose", etc. etc..  This is TRUTH, no doubt, but Tim also warned that just saying these things can really cause trouble.  We tend to (myself included) gloss over everything with our bright and shiny answers when deep down we're not being authentic with ourselves, other or God.  It's ok to be upset, devestated, confused, angry when bad stuff happens....we can know all the truth and believe it, but being authentic and real, especially when talking to God is vital.  Don't try to "fake it till you make it", it's not healthy and it doesn't allow you to truly find peace and assurance in your storms. 

Here are 4 practices to remember when you're in storms:

1.COMPLAIN to God---being authentic in your relationship with God reminds you that God cares, He knows what you're feeling, and allows Him to become real in our lives.  Authenticity in any relationship builds a strong foundation.  God's Word even included a large section in the Psalms often referred to Psalms of Lament.  God included this in His Word to show us that it's ok to cry to Him... (Psalm 44)

2. LEAN on other people---(Job 2:12-13)...God wants to use others to help you through your storm.  It builds the body of Christ and reminds you that you're not alone. 

3. HUSH---Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10----in other words it's ok to be upset and complain, but don't get stuck there.  Allow God to teach you and grow you....if all you do is complain and whine then you may miss God's real purpose for your storm....and we all know that if God wants to teach us something He won't stop until we learn...really learn.

4.REMEMBER--Romans 8: 35-39  Nothing ever separates us from His love. 

our St. Patty's Day

I fixed this yummy dinner.....of course, Brian enjoyed a Guinness beer!

3 of the 4 family members...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone is wearing green today.  I don't have green on yet (still in my p.j.s) and Brian has taken several opportunities to "pinch" me.  I'm making corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and a grasshopper pie for dinner.  I grew up with the whole St. Pat's day meal, so I decided to be adventurous and try it myself.  Going to work on some SB stuff today and might take a little detour to the local SB store.  Who Knows!  Yesterday I had lunch with Karin and her one year old Noah.  Noah is one of the cutest babies and is so good.  We were at a restaurant for 1 1/2 hours and he never got upset or frustrated with sitting in the high chair.  One happy baby I tell you!  Here's a picture of him.  Check out those eyes! 

then and now

My long-time friend Hannah emailed this picture to me from back in the day...probably about 4th grade.  Could we be any more stylish?  Seriously...hilarious.  Thinking about what 4 graders are trying to wear these days reminds me of the good old Little House on the Prairie days on tv.  Thank God that we all grow out of those awkward years!  Thanks for the picture and memories Hannah Banana it made my day.  love you friend!

for my Bible verse album....this is a favorite of mine...Galatians 5:22-23

Brian and I really don't write checks for everyday purchases, nor do we use a debit card.  In order to earn free Southwest tickets we use our Southwest credit card for most of our purchases.  So that I could keep better track of our expenditures I created this Spending Log where I write down everything we buy and classify it according to our budget.  I just covered a check book register to make this cute, useful spending log.  Brian's only concern is that I'll spend $ just to use this log....no need to worry...I put down some words that represent our goals in order to keep me focused on what's really important to us. 

Here's something I read from one of my devotionals this morning.  "The simple life is not only about money and things.  It's about how you spend your time and feed your spirit."    "Spending less means less time spent shopping and taking care of things you buy.  Instead of using your time for the things money can buy, you can concentrate on enjoying the things that money can't buy, including time for family, friends, {hobbies}, and spiritual pursuits."

5 years ago today

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Nothing too exciting here.  Brian has had 2 business dinners this week which brought him home quite late, so today he skipped out a little early so he could spend some time in the garden.  Looking forward to Daylight Savings Time (this weekend) so we have more daylight in the evenings.  It's be gorgeous here...warm and sunny.  I've been spending about an hour a day on the back patio reading.  Must enjoy these days.  I was getting tired of looking at the empty pots on the patio so today I bought some flowers to fill them with.  That will be tomorrows afternoon task. 

This morning we enjoyed a very powerful church service on Grace....it is one of my favorite services ever at Gateway.  I'm not sure there was a dry eye at one point in the service.  I"m really looking forward to the new series Knowing God Through....  You can listen to the sermons here. 

Tonight we went to my aunt and uncle's for dinner.  Yummy grilled shrimp, salmon, veggies, garlic cheese bread and a salad I made.  It's a recipe from a St. Louis restaurant.  It's very easy and the dressing isn't full of preservatives and salt.  You can make and keep the dressing in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.  Good Eats!

Rich and Charlie’s Italian Salad

Dressing:

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup red wine vinegar

1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 small red onion, grated

1 (4oz) jar chopped pimento

¼ tsp of freshly ground pepper

Salad:

1 medium head of lettuce, chopped

1 avg. head romaine (I used salad in a sack)

1 (14oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients for dressing in a jar and refrigerate for several hours.  To make salad put lettuce in a large bowl.  Add artichokes and red onion (I also added a small chopped tomato and a small diced cucumber).  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Shake dressing until well mixed, pour over salad, and toss.

A Much Needed Day Together

Sometimes life just gets so daily...same old, same old....the sunrises and sets, 24 hours fly by, and the next thing you know you've been married almost 5 years and you wonder where the time went.  Life happens in the everyday, and that's a good thing, but even when you take time to reflect on the everyday and thank God for it's blessings it can become a blur.  Brian and I realized last night that we hadn't set aside a day to get out of the house TOGETHER in a long time thus we planned a "Brian and Angela's Day of Fun".  The weather was perfect and we filled our day with having a picnic at a park on the bayou, going my favorite scrapbook store in Kemah (and using my C-mas gift certificate), dropping some used books at Half-Priced Books, using Brian's Spec's gift certificates on lots of wine and beer, and eating at taco milagro.  It was really good...Brian said the tamales tasted like a little abuelita made them and I had my first mojito--YUM, although not quite sweet enough!  Needless to say we had a great day of fun, and a much needed day together away from everday life.  Today I thank God for:  a warm spring day, gift certificates, my hubby, parks, and the energy I had to enjoy the day.