I don't want to take a ticket and stand in line.

I am not political. I do have opinions and I vote, but I am not a political person. So this post is one that I have debated on writing for the past 2 hours. But, here goes.

I was sitting at the dining room table working on some crafty things tonight and Donny was watching television. A hockey game to be exact. Who'd have thought? Anyway, a home improvement commercial came on and a line in it was, "Because you don't want to take a number and stand in line to fix your home." Or something very similar...the "number and stand in line" is for sure, though. What went through my mind is that apparently we can't imagine going to Home Depot/Lowe's/Ace and standing in line with a number for some wood or a hammer and yet we voted in a President who's main goal for our health benefits will require us to stand in line with a number to have that operation you need on your heart or that your child needs on their ears. It's unfathomable to me!
Okay, I am off of my soapbox and although I know that I chose to write this blog and make it public, I am just voicing my opinion and don't need to be yelled at for it. Feel free to comment but let's be respectful.
Thanks, and I don't want to stand in line.

Fun With Apps

Apps are good.
Apps are fun.
Share your apps with everyone!

We downloaded a new app a few days ago and have been having so much fun with it! We thought we would share our fun app and the things we do with it with you.

The app is CamWow. It uses your camera to make funny pictures and other effects. Here are a few.

This one is my favorite! What's not to love about it!

Shrunken head?

There once was a Who in Whoville.....

And now to introduce you to some friends of ours.

Daniel

Kyle

John

Bethany

Josh





Go ahead now. Go grab your phone, iPod, iPad, whatever! Go to your apps and find CamWow! You won't be disappointed. It will provide hours of fun and loads of blackmail.

Did You Know...

Did you know that God and Jesus live so high above us because they are in heaven?

Did you know that God and Jesus live there because they are bigger than ghosts?

Did you know that when the sunshine appears through the clouds and you see the rays breaking through and stretching down to the earth it means that Jesus is coming down?

These are all lessons he taught me. Sometimes being a Mom is so much fun.

I am a junkie

Hi. My name is Stacey and I am a junkie. Getting high with The Most High is my favorite past time.
So what happened? What happened to living from one fix to the next? Where did the unquenchable hunger for that high go?
Oh, sure, I could list excuse after excuse but the ultimate problem falls back to the one typing this right now. It's not pretty but the mirror can no longer be ignored. The intervention for my passion has begun. I'm being shown how my choices have effected my addiction.
What about you? Are you still getting the shakes when it's close to time for your next fix? What's the answer? Ah, the answer my friends, is found when we are standing so perfectly fine that we realize there is no longer a need for something to grip and we find ourselves grasping for something to replace it. But there is nothing that can give us that rush! There is no one who can satisfy our hunger. No. There is only one who can come in and totally wreck my life into a beautiful disaster.
God, I need You more today than ever before. Shake me from my slumber and light the fire that once burned bright and intense once again. Fill me with Your presence that I may be intone with You heart. Let Your light shine so brightly in me that others can't help but see You as they look at me. And may the words in my mouth be seasoned in love, mercy, grace & hope!

Going without and other thoughts for the day.

Ever had to go without something? Ever chosen to go without something? 

For the next 21 days, our church is doing a 21 Day Fast. This is such a neat thing to participate in. The entire church from the kids on up have a part in this. 

I love the kids set up. They get a weekly calendar with daily scripture readings and what they are to fast for the day.

The youth and adults have journals. 

Working with the youth, Donny and I decided we would participate in their fasting. Today marks day one and the fast is video games. Now, aside from a few apps on the iPod and Wii fit, I don't do video games. I have given those up though. And since that is all, I have opted to fast Facebook for the day. (I will post a link to this blog but that is through Blogger so I am really not getting on facebook, see?)

The purpose of this fasting and prayer time is to seek out God; to draw ever closer to Him and find His unfolding plan and will for our church. We know that without vision people parish. The goal is to be in a place at the end of 21 days that we can, as a church, see what the vision for First Assembly of God is. It's an exciting time to be a part of what's going on!! Change is not always easy but it is mostly good! 

Other thoughts:

Noah is having trouble with the concept of rhyming. So today while we took a ride in the van, we talked about words that rhyme. Poor thing. He wants to do more of a word association than rhyme. It ended up with him telling us words and we would say the rhyming words. He would say things like road and I would say "toad". To which he would laugh in hysterics.  Or he would say "bed" and I said, "Fred" and he replied, "Mom! There's a Fred on Scooby Doo!" And then came things like alligator, power line, crocodile, McDonald's and such. Oh Lord help me. 

I am so ready for Spring. I love the winter and all the snow but this year I am beyond done with it all! I want the nice, warmer days to come and I am ready to head over to Busch Stadium for a Cardinal's game with a wonderful pretzel and cheese and some peanuts! I can't wait for bike rides and going to the park. 

And lastly, is this simple thought of reassurance tapping at the back of my brain. What a wonderful thought to have. Here it is,

Philippians 4:19 (Amplified Bible)¹⁹And my God will liberally supply (^[a]fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Here goes nothing

I don't think it's any secret that many people feel unhappy with their appearance in one way or another. Our culture has done a fine job of setting unrealistic standards for the "normal" person to live up to. I love that we are seeing more and more of the "average" body type in Hollywood now.
All that to say that there is nothing wrong with wanting to better your life with being more healthy and active. Even as we spread the message that God created us and He doesn't make mistakes, we can admit that HE didn't but sometimes, most times, we do make mistakes.
For me, I am the heaviest I have ever been....I can't believe I just put that out here for all to see. A couple of years ago I did a weight loss program that really worked for me. I lost almost 40 pounds and was feeling pretty good...then I got pregnant and well, that body went out the window. You combine pregnancy, hormones, bed rest, Donny's accident and having no free time to exercise and you get where I am at now.
And I have decided that enough is enough. I deserve better. My family deserves better, but most of all, my Heavenly Father deserves better. He created me in His image and I owe it to Him to care for myself and to honor Him with every aspect of my life.
So, starting on Monday, 2/28, I am starting the Couch-to-5k Running Plan with a friend. I am also going to start making better choices for my meals and snacks. AND, I want to get back to doing my other exercises.
I guess I am blogging about it so that you can help hold me accountable and go through the journey with me. I encourage you to join along! Post how you are doing and what your struggles are. Let's encourage one another and keep each other going.
Oh boy....here we go...

Thoughts

For days now I Have been thinking of how much I need to blog. I find it therapeutic and yet terrifying at the same time.
It's so easy to come up with ideas for what to write about but how much of those ideas you are interested in reading is what stops me...I know I don't want to read something dull or run of the mill.
My children provide me fodder often however, I rarely have time to sit and immediately take care of putting it in the blog and so it just gets filed away in the deep dark corners of my brain where it sits and collects brain dust.
I wish I was better.
Really though, my thoughts tonight are not on what silly things they have said or done lately. They are not on what I have cooked that I have pictures of. No, tonight my thoughts are on spiritual matters. I want so badly to have a huge douse of gasoline poured over my waning fire for Jesus. I am so tired of complacency and comfort in my walk with God. I want a burden that runs deep to consume my heart. I want to crave time in the Word as if my life depended on because guess what? IT DOES.
I want to have my heart broken for what breaks my Heavenly Father's. I want to be moved beyond the point of despair for the lost and hurting in this world. I want to feel a major sense of urgency to spread His saving message! I don't want to talk about what "the church needs." I feel it's my time to be selfish. I need to take an inward retreat and get myself in shape so that I can effectively minister to those that God has placed in my charge.
I just want more...anyone feel the way I do?