Love, forgiveness, and opening your heart to others

This is something I have been thinking about the past several days.

What good does it bring you to limit to whom you grant forgiveness? What fulfillment does it bring you to only love those who are like you?

Get out of your comfort zone, and offer love and forgiveness to anyone God brings before you.

Matt 5:43-48
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Yearly Resolves

I normally am not one to make New Year's resolutions. However, 14 days into 2007, I have decided that I should at least attempt a few little overhauls into a few aspects of my life.

Firstly, I need to read my Bible more. Too often life gets busy, complicated, what have you, and things get pushed aside. I'm afraid to admit that too many times, this is one thing that gets pushed aside that shouldn't ever be.

Secondly, I desperately need to get back into my weekly household chores routine. With all of the photo sessions I allowed myself to take on last fall, the cleaning routine went down the drain. So, Accountability Partner, if you are reading this, help me get back on track! Accountability Partner, you know who you are!

The last resolve is a fun one! I really want to work on my photography skills this year. I want to be unique. I want to have a definite style. I want people to see my photos and say "WOW!" I want to take my time at taking on clients this year and really focus on my skills. I'm ready to crank the photography thing up another notch!

Potatoes are in the oven, ribeyes marinating and will soon go on the Egg. Now I need to pick out a vegetable for dinner.

Tomorrow morning is back to the old grindstone! I'm looking forward to accomplishing my Monday goals.

The long awaited update!

I'm finally sitting down to take a few minutes to update the throngs of people who flock to my blog daily to see if I have updated...

Life has been relatively good to us over the past several weeks. I have been uber busy with sessions, and Matt has been busy with work. He finally got a break last week from the long hours. He's at work today, but is off for the rest of the week! We will be travelling home to Brevard early Wednesday morning, then to Hartwell, GA for a family reunion. Thursday we plan to stay in the mountains with my parents and have Thanksgiving with them. That will be a change after hosting Turkey Day here at our house the past couple years.

I'm getting that Christmas spirit already. I must admit, I've been playing Christmas music for a while now. Right now Harry Connick Jr is serenading me with "The Christmas Waltz." Today is one of those cold dreary days that just makes you want to curl up in a cozy chair with a cup of hot cider and watch a good Christmas movie. This time of year is so special to me. I enjoy all the fond memories of past Christmases and I look forward to the many Christmases to come. It's the only time of year I can go crazy with baking and not feel guilty about eating all of the yummy goodies we make. I love decorating, I love the music. As the years go on, I want to Aiden to remember Christmas not only for the birth of Jesus, but that Christmas is a time of family, a time of being thankful for all of our blessings, a time to look back and reflect on how far we have come and to look forward to see what lies ahead in our future. I want to give Aiden special memories that he can share with his children and his grandchildren.

My yummy lollipop is no longer, so I must get back to the house straightening. We completed a furniture swap this weekend and now I'm trying to get everything reorganized.

Be thankful this week for all of the blessings in your life. In all of the hustle and bustle of the season, take the time to enjoy this special time of year.

"Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 106:1

Other happenings...

Last night I had a hard time sleeping. I noticed my throat felt raw when I went to bed last night, and I remember waking up a few times during the night snoring. I still have a raw throat this morning and bit of a headache, so I got up around 5 or so to get some tea (Earl Grey!!) and do some computer work on some pictures I need to print. Hopefully, I'm not coming down with anything. I will try to get my floors mopped in a hurry today and I can lay down and rest while Aiden is sleeping.

Galen comes to stay with us this evening. Matt's mom will be out of town today and tomorrow, so Matt is going to pick him up from school this afternoon after Galen's track practice and he will spend the night, and then he and Matt will get up super early to get him to his school on time (about 45 mins - 1 hour away!). I like having Galen over. He's a fun kid, and for being a 'little punk' teenager, he does really well with Aiden and helps to keep him entertained. Aiden loves playing with him too! He loves his Uncle Galen! :-)

Tomorrow we will meet up with a friend of mine who had her baby a couple months ago. Of course I will be taking the camera and of course I will be taking more pictures. I need to call her today to finalize plans for tomorrow.

We just had another little thundershower. We have gotten so much rain over the past few days. The rain is much needed and luckily we are not getting deluged, but we are having nice soaking showers.

I suppose that is all for now. I think I will get another cup of hot tea.. it's chilly here this morning and the hot tea feels wonderful on my raw throat.

Here is verse to think about today...

If you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even "sinners" do that.
Luke 6:33

Have a wonderful Thursday, and continue being a blessing to ALL others! :-)

I had the 'blahs' yesterday...

I don't know why I did, but all day long I was just in a very blah mood. I just couldn't get motivated for much at all.. I DID get the floor mopped and more laundry put away. We played a decent bit outside once the fog lifted and the sun came out. Aiden ate a popcicle outside, so I snapped some pictures, but none of those came out very well... that didn't help my mood. Matt got home, and he saw I was just bummed out, so he asked if I wanted to go out for dinner. We went to House of Pizza here in town and I had a HUMONGOUS Greek salad, with some pepperocinis and super salty olives! It was delicious. We also got a pizza, but we didn't eat much of it, so we brought it home. Getting out of the house really helped my mood. I felt MUCH better after dinner.

Today is better.. I always feel better when Matt is at home. If the rain holds off, we are going over to a friend's house to help him get some trees down in their yard (as Matt is quite the tree-taker-downer now!). I want to get to Barnes & Noble and go look at some photography books, so hopefully we can do that today.

It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, but be clear for Sunday. I always like it when it is sunny on Sunday. It's the day of sun, the day of rest, the day of worship, so it should be sunny!

Have a wonderful Friday and great weekend.

Psalm 118:24

24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Change of Plans and Letting go of the Wheel!

I started out today with an almost immediate change of plans. The photoshoot that I thought was supposed to happen this morning is instead happening Thursday morning. That's fine, because the new camera should be here by then (crossing fingers!).

The camera and lenses are expected to arrive sometime tomorrow. Originally, I had planned on going to SC to visit my grandmother on her 88th birthday. Today, I realized one of the packages coming FedEx needed a Direct Signature, meaning they will not leave the package on the doorstep no matter what and they would reattempt delivery the next day. So I began to stew over not being here tomorrow when FedEx came. But I just said to myself that I waited this long for this new camera, I can wait an extra day... I had made a prior committment and I should keep it! So, I was ok with that! I felt good about my decision. It was bittersweet, but I knew it was the right choice, and I made the choice joyfully, without resentment at not being home to accept the deliveries.

Matt came home slightly before 4pm this afternoon which surprised me. His car has been leaking oil for quite a while. We attempted to repair this leak back in November but it just didn't work. He decided to call the shop he took it to back in November and talk with them about the situation. This resulted in an appointment for the car in Asheville on Friday. We will drive the car to Asheville either Thursday night or bright and early Friday morning, and be sans car during the day on Friday.

So, I call my mom to inform her of this, and ask her if we could postpone our SC trip (she was going to meet me in SC at my grandmother's place tomorrow) until Friday and Matt would be able to make the trip to SC then. She will come rescue us from the shop and we will all make the journey to celebrate my grandmother's birthday on Friday. That leaves me home tomorrow to accept the packages tomorrow, and the rescheduled photoshoot will more than likely be with the new camera, and Matt gets to come with us to help celebrate my grandmother's birthday!

I did not try to force things to work out as perfectly as they did. I saw the opportunities given to me and worked them to everyone's advantage, not just my own. You know that old saying, "Patience is a virtue." Patience, while it can be hard to maintain, always seems to help me out in the long run. Don't try to take control of every little thing that comes your way. Sometimes, we all need to sit back and, like the Carrie Underwood song says, let Jesus take the wheel.

Below is one of my absolute favorite verses from the Bible. If you let the Lord take control and trust in His perfect planning and timing, the truth of this verse should ring loud and clear for you!

Isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

A Picky Eater and the Hope of Spring

I am typing this as we are having our second attempt at breakfast this morning. He had a sippy cup of milk and a bagel at First Breakfast. He ate most of his bagel half and proceeded to fuss until I got him out of his high chair. He didn't even want to eat the banana I had offered him! This is the same kid who we can't stroll by the bananas in the grocery store for fear of having a toddler tantrum meltdown because he can't have a banana right then! Anyway, MAYBE twenty minutes had passed since he finished First Breakfast and he is in the kitchen saying "cereal," pointing to the box of Kashi up on top of the refrigerator. He is now in his chair eating that (I think), and he even now sounds like he doesn't want to sit in his chair and eat. He's been eating dinner with us in a big person chair in the evenings.. maybe he just doesn't like his high chair anymore... Oh the joys of figuring out our toddlers with their limited ability to communicate.

So, I felt really BAD yesterday, but today I feel much better. A little congestion is left behind, but I don't feel anywhere near like I did 24 hours ago. I will work hard today getting the house cleaned up and back on track again with my cleaning. Something is trying really hard to keep me from fulfilling and sometimes even wanting to fulfill my goal to bless my familiy with a clean home and laundry and good food to eat!

The weather is still chilly, but at least the sun is shining. I can't wait until warm weather really arrives. I always seem to be such a happier more energetic person when the weather is warm. By late winter/early spring, I am just run down and lethargic. I'm ready for more sun and more warmth to energize my physical body and my soul!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Song of Solomon 2:11-13


11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me."

"Somebody has a case of 'The Monday's.'"

If you've seen the movie "Office Space," you definitely understand that quote!

Sickness has invaded our home yet again! Matt has been battling a cough/headache/congestion this weekend, and of course Aiden now seems to have it. Pray it does not result in another ear infection... those are NOT fun.

Today I will try to finish playing catch up as far as the housework goes. We are having our St. Patrick's Day dinner 3 days late. I just put a corned beef brisket in the crock-pot to cook all day. I will cook cabbage and some rice later.

Hopefully I will get some pictures of Aiden today, if he doesn't look too sick. An online pregnancy/baby forum I participate on does a Picture of the Week thing every week. This week's theme is supposed to be of our baby's reading books. It's neat seeing all the babies, and of course it's a great excuse for me to take more pictures!

Here is a verse from Luke 12 I ran across while perusing a few different websites. It goes along with the Thurgood Marshall quote I posted a few days ago. Is someone trying to tell me something?

"There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs."
Luke 12:2-3 NIV

Happy Monday!