"....I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." ~James 10:10~

Monday, December 31, 2012

A New Year Blessing

I was so BLESSED during my lunch break today and just wanted to keep the blessings rolling along to you all!

I have been SO tired and haven't fully recovered from our sleepless but WONDERFUL trip to NYC so I was kinda in a slump this AM. Not only that, I was stressed about my DISASTER of a cluttered home and how to possibly get it DEcluttered and be willing to let go of all the worthless things I don't need. Just thinking about it was making me NUTS! 

So,,,When the time (finally:) came I went home for a 20 minute catnap at lunch and woke up feeling refreshed :) (Blessing #1) Then on my drive back to the office, Michael W. Smith was being interviewed on His Radio and he shared the blessing he wrote and reads to his audiences after concerts: (Blessing #2)

"In the name of Jesus Christ,
I bless you with the promises of God,
which are “yes” and “amen.”

May the Holy Spirit make you healthy
and strong in body, mind, and spirit
to move in faith and expectancy.
May God’s
angels be with you to
protect and keep you.

Be blessed with supernatural strength
to turn your eyes from
foolish, worthless, and evil things, and to shut out
the demeaning and the negative.
Instead may you behold the beauty of things
that God has planned for you
as you obey his Word.
May God bless your ears to hear the lovely,
the uplifting, and the encouraging.
May your mind be strong, disciplined,
balanced, and faith-filled.

May your feet walk in holiness and
your steps be ordered by the Lord.
May your hands be tender and helping,
blessing those in need.
May your heart be humble and
receptive to one another
and to the things of God, not to the world.

God’s grace be upon your home,
that it may be a sanctuary of rest and renewal,
a haven of peace where sounds of joy
and laughter grace its walls,
where love and unconditional acceptance
of one another is the constant rule.

May God give you the spiritual strength to
overcome the evil one
and avoid temptation.
May God’s grace be upon you to
fulfill your dreams and visions.
May goodness and mercy follow you
all the days of your long life."

~Michael W. Smith

Let this sink in and make a difference in your day! I felt so encouraged after hearing him read it and couldn't wait to get back to the computer to share it with you. I really feel like God spoke to me through those few minutes and gave me peace to finish out my day strong. I might even try cleaning up tonight...Lord (continue to) help me!!! ;)

Love,
Laura

Over ALREADY???

2012 came and went like a bag of salt and vinegar tater chips....one minute you pop them open and the next minute your hand is scraping the bottom of the bag for crumbs and licking the salt off your fingers :) Over so quickly...but so GOOOOOOD!

That's how I feel about the past year :) Over WAY too soon but so delicious while it lasted! And I enjoyed every last "bite"!!!!

This year was one to remember for many different reasons but mostly because of all the incredible blessings and memories created with family and friends. And through all the difficult times that this year brought, I was able to hold God's guiding hand (and Trav's too:) and keep on walking forward with faith....and now I'm so excited to see what 2013 has in store for our family :) I'm looking forward to our BEST YEAR EVER!!!

P.S. Now would be a good moment for you to check out this LINK! (So you can have your BEST YEAR EVER, TOO!)

In other 2013 news.....I'll be starting 2 classes this semester...two nights a week from 5:30-9:30 plus 15 hours in a classroom PLUS my full time job so prayers for diligence and persistence will be greatly appreciated!

Also, please keep Travis and I in your prayers as we trust in God's plan for our future family :) Perhaps you will see a baby bump in the New Year! Whatever HE has in store for us....we know it is nothing but the BEST!

And so now---it's time to eat breakfast. A healthy bowl of oatmeal, almonds and a banana. Someone has to work off all that PIZZA from NYC!

Wishing you all your BEST YEAR EVER!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. ~Joshua 1:9 ~

Love,
Laura

Saturday, December 8, 2012

{Christmastime Update}

I really had no intentions of waiting 21 days in between blog posts...

between school, work, and CHRISTMASTIME (P.S. I debated back and forth on whether it's Christmastime or Christmas Time until I consulted the handy dandy dictionary HERE :)......

...so yes, as weird as it looks when you type it...I believe Christmastime is correct :) But who really cares...it's THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR however you spell it!

So I'm now have a month break from school----YAY!----plus between now and Christmas there are so many fun things planned to do with family and friends.

Starting with tomorrow's FAMILY PINTREST PARTY! My mom came up with this really great idea that all of us girls would find a Christmas craft on pintrest, buy enough supplies for everyone to make one, and set up stations for a day of rotating through each station to get to make one of everything. It's gonna be SOOOOOO FUN!!!! Plus---yummy treats and good company....sounds pretty much perfect to me:)

Look for party pics Sunday night! :)

As for now....I swear I just heard Waffle House calling me name. Yep, it's BIG GREASY YUMMY BREAKFAST-FOR-LUNCH TIME!

Love
Laura