The Library

This weekend was glorious! It was 72 degrees on Saturday, and there was no cloud in the sky. So...what did I do? I went to the library! I know what you are thinking...dorky huh? I haven't stepped foot in a public library since I was a little girl visiting Laman Library in North Little Rock, AR. I can barely remember the experience at Laman Library, but I do vividly remember the school libraries I visited quite often at St. Joseph's and at St. Mary's when I was in pre-school and in elementary school. I can still close my eyes and picture the layout of both places. There weren't any computers back then, just shelves of books, desks butted up against each other, and a few tables. They were such small places! I can still smell the musty books and old leather. The library at St. Joseph's didn't have carpet, and it always smelled like pine cleaner as I'm sure the nuns waxed the floors nearly every day! My favorite memory of the library as a child is going to the book fairs that were held at school. Extra temporary shelves were brought in and so many new and shiny books with the most colorful illustrated covers were on display! My parents always gave me money to purchase a few books, and I remember being so excited while in deep turmoil because I could not decide between the zillion books I wanted to read! I don't know why I love books so much. I always have and always will. I'm not biased towards any genre except I don't particularly like romance novels at the checkout counter of Wal-Mart. I will admit, though, for a while I wasn't reading much at all. Most of my time was spent in front of the tv or with a magazine. In an effort to get back to what I loved so much, I made a resolution to read more this year. I also thought it would be awesome to take a trip to the library for the first time in years. On Saturday afternoon, I became the proud owner of a Pelham Library Card! And now...I'm overwelmed with choices, and I don't know what to check out. I didn't even think about the possibility of checking out cd's, dvd's, and audio books! WOW! The first book I checked out was 1,000 Places to See Before You Die (USA & Canada). Saturday night, Michael and I kept turning the pages happily pointing out the places we've already seen, which was maybe 45 out of 1,000! Tonight, I am going to swing by after work and pick up a classic novel, and on Friday, I'm going to check out the first season of Glee and watch it all over again this weekend. I love the library!

Answers

I've had a rough week! One of my toughest weeks in a while. I've learned that some people are just mean and unhappy and they say hateful things and attack you blindsided. I also learned that in times of trial, I find it very easy to let my emotions and anger get the best of me and I attack back, which results in making the situation worse. It is my nature to be passive and a people pleaser, but then when I have had enough, I let it all out-which I promise does me no good! I know a lot of you do that too, but unfortunately "letting it all out" in a no win and unfair situation does nothing in our favor. I learned a tough lesson this week, and though I had a few bad days, and I am still a bit angry, I am thankful for the growth I have already experienced from the situation. Several weeks ago, I began studying the One Year Bible provided by our church online. It is my quiet time everyday, and it gives me a few minutes of peace that I need just to get through the day sometimes. Today, I received so many answers to the situation that happened to me this week, and I am so grateful to God for His instruction, His love, and His mercy. I wanted to share a few passages from today's bible study that may help you if you are struggling with a situation as well. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success! (Proverbs 118:21-25) A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops. Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them. Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully. (Proverbs 28:3-5) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us. But he gives us more grace. “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:1-8) Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15) I thank God for the answers he gives! Now, it's just up to me to submit to what he is teaching me! Click on One Year Bible if you are interested in beginning a daily bible study or you want answers to life's little trials we all have. It's nice just to have some direction in this chaotic world!

Happy Birthday Michael!

I want to wish a Happy 27th Birthday to my wonderful husband and best friend! I can't imagine my life without Michael, and it is so funny how I get just as excited, if not more, about his birthday that he does. It seems crazy, but Michael and I have been together since he was 19 and I was 20. It was so long ago, our first pictures as a couple were taken on film cameras. Nope, we didn't take digital photos back then! In fact, this is the earliest photo I could find of us when Michael was 20, and I was 21.

Now, he is the big 27! We are planning a date night on Saturday, but I made him dinner tonight. I called it my "Cracker Barrel" dinner because I made beer bread, turkey meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes.

I have never made meat loaf or beer bread, but they were so much easier than I thought. I've had the beer bread mix for a while, and I have been waiting for a special night to try it. All you do, is open a can of light beer, pour it in a bowl, stir in the mix, and stick it in the oven in a loaf pan!

Here's my first beer bread loaf!

I also made my first meatloaf tonight, and I must say it was quite delicious, and again, so easy to make. I mixed together 2 lbs. of ground turkey, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup ketchup, and a package of Stovetop stuffing, and I stuck it in the oven in my new Celebrating Home loaf pan. Michael loved it, and it turned out to be a good birthday dinner!

Don't you just love my ketchup decoration? I should have made a "27!"

Welcome to Michael's "Cracker Barrel" 27th Birthday Dinner!

The hungry birthday boy!

Along with a homecooked dinner, Michael got some great gifts. His brother and Caroline got him a swanky new pair of Aviators, since his other ones swam away in the lake last spring! Let's hope he can keep them until he's 28! I got him two sports books because he of course love sports and that's the only way I can get him to read!

I have heard so many great reviews about Drew Brees' inspirational memoir about his struggles after Hurricane Katrina and the awesome journey he and his team made to winning the Super Bowl. I want to read this book too!

The second book I got him by David Thomas is Remember Why You Play, a book about faith and the game of football. I had to get it for Michael to honor his dad because I know this is a book his dad would love and would get for Michael himself if he were here. I hope Michael loves it...he said he is going to read this one first!

I love birthdays, and I hope my hubby had a wonderful 27th! Not too many husbands get a blog post about their birthdays!

It's Never Too Late...

To Read a Good Book How was your weekend? I had a great weekend, but it flew by way too quickly! Friday, I had dinner with my friend Nicole, Saturday Michael and I invited our friends over to watch football all day, and Sunday I started reading a new book that I could barely put down. Though watching SEC football and stuffing my face with good food while hanging out with everyone was fun, the highlight of my weekend just may have been reading this great book! I joined a small group through our church this semester. It is a women's young professionals bible study, and we are reading Francine Rivers' collection called Lineage of Grace. As the collection states, these are stories of five women whom God chose - Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Each was faced with extraordinary and even scandalous challenges, but each took great personal risk to fulfill her calling. Each was destined to play a key role in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. The first story I read was about Tamar. She was treated like a slave, abused by two husbands who left her childless and widowed at 18. She even prostituted herself to fulfill what she believed was her destiny because she had faith and patience, and it is what she had to do to survive. I won't spoil the end...but the story is amazing, and I am so eager to read the next. All I could think about is how the little things in my life (which is amazingly blessed compared to hers) make me impatient and complain a lot, but this woman survived so much and she never complained! This is a great book for me because I sometimes feel that I have given up so many chances for God to use me. If you feel like your life lacks spiritual meaning, go and pick up this book, and you will change your mind. Then share the book with a friend. The best part for me is that I get to share this experience with 11 great women! It's Never Too Late to Read a Good Book It's one of life's great simple pleasures. Teake a journey. Relax. Learn. Go back in time. Or forward. Be inspired. Or challenged. Share.

Calming My Anxious Heart

When we moved to Birmingham, we began going to a church called Church of the Highlands. I wrote about our first experience visiting there a few weeks ago. This is a huge church with 8 campuses, so small groups are a main focus of the church; in fact, over 1,000 small groups will begin to meet this fall beginning September 5! I am so excited about trying out a small group for the first time!

My friend Jamie joined a small group last spring. Her group was a bible study for women, and they read a book called Calm My Anxious Heart. Jamie, who had gone through some trying times before she read the book told me how much this book had changed her life and how it made her realize the importance of being content with today and the time you have and focusing on the gifts in life rather than being anxious all the time about what you don't have. I've admitted time and time again how anxiety has always been a part of my life, but seeing how the book had helped her, I asked to borrow it and began reading it last week. One chapter in, and I was so happy I had found this book!

In chapter 1, the author Linda Dillow talks about a missionary named Ella who lived happily in Africa for fifty-two years under desolate living conditions with no electricity or air conditioning during days when the temperature soared to over 120 degrees. Meanwhile, Linda's neighbor Meredith, the whiny socialite in the suburbs with two beautiful kids and a husband living in a large home with air conditioning, electricity, and the internet is the most negative person Linda has come to know. She spends the chapter comparing Meredith and Ella and the ironies of their lives and how it would seem obvious that Meredith should be content while Ella had more than enough justification for being negative with her life! Unfortunately, reading about Meredith reminded me of myself and a lot of women I know. All of us are so lucky to be alive and have what the luxuries we have, but we always find something to complain about! At least I do!

At the end of chapter 1, Linda uncovers Ella's prescription for contentment in her life - a set of commandments for contentment found in Ella's diary:

**Never allow yourself to complain about anything-not even the weather.

**Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.

**Never compare your lot with another's.

**Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

**Never dwell on tomorrow-remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

I love Ella's prescription for contentment, especially her last commandment. I hope I can learn from Ella and make a daily pledge that today is all I have, I am blessed to be alive today, so I need to give it all I have. Worrying about tomorrow is useless and wasteful...tomorrow is God's anyway!