My Life Lately

Things are going pretty well in my life right now.

The kids are all doing well in school. Ben and Emily really love school and love riding the bus, even though it picks them up at 6:15am! A couple of times I have driven them to school and that makes them mad. They would rather ride the bus. It is easier for me to put them on the bus than to drive them but I just don't like them having to ride for so long in the morning. They get ready quickly in the morning as long as we have everything laid out the night before. They eat breakfast at school, so that makes it easier too. Allison and Clara are getting good overall grades in their classes. Allison has a few of her good friends in all of her classes this year, so that helps a lot. Clara really likes school and is doing better at reading this year than last year. This is her last year at the elementary school. It's hard for me to believe that she will be in Middle School next year! She and her classmates just seem younger to me than Allison's class did at that age.

Time goes by so quickly! I say that over and over, but it is so true! When Tim and I first got married and then had Allison, I noticed that the years started going by faster and faster. After that months started passing more quickly and now it just seems like weeks and days breeze by leaving me no chance to catch up. I do wish that my time would slow down some. I think I just need to be way more organized and prioritize better. I am working on it. I am just not that type of person anymore. I think that when I was younger I was a little bit better at that. I used to always be early for everything and now it seems no matter how hard I try I am more often running late or at least feeling like I will be late. I guess I have always been bad about procrastinating though. I used to do school reports and projects on the night before they were due. Luckily I did a really good job under pressure and always made the honor roll. I'm still that way too. I struggle with keeping the house clean, but if I invite company over, I can get the whole house cleaned in mere hours. I don't want to be that way though. I want to be more prepared so that I don't have to stress out and rush around last minute. Tim and I would like to have people over for dinner more often, but we feel like the house just isn't presentable. Like I said though, I am working on it, slowly but surely.

I have been really good about reading my Bible consistently. I try to read it every morning as the first thing I do when I get up. I might make a cup of coffee first, or call my Mom first, but I try really hard to read my Bible before I turn on the computer or tv or radio each morning. When I read my Bible in the morning it is easier to keep my focus right throughout the day than if I read it before I go to bed at night. I really do love reading my Bible too. There are some books that I struggle through at times, but most of it I really relate to and can see what God is telling me. Right now I am in Ecclesiastes and that is not one of my favorites. Maybe at a different stage in my life I will get it, but that's not where I am right now. I am fortunate I guess that I don't feel like my faith has been tested very often. I very rarely question God. I always know that He is Good and that His Plan is Good even if it isn't my plan. I never have felt that God has abandoned me or that He has done me wrong. I always feel that I have more than I deserve. I am so thankful that He doesn't give me what I deserve, because that would not be anything good at all. Anyway, I have a hard time relating to parts of the Bible where people feel forsaken by God or angry at Him. I just haven't been there yet.

I love our Church! Our Church is doing really well right now. I think we are really on the right track of doing God's Will. We are seeking Him and trying to do what He wants. I feel really blessed with our Church and the wonderful family that we have there. Tim and I both look up to so many people there and we learn so much from all of them. I enjoy teaching when it's my turn. Today I taught the Children's Church service with my friend Mary. It went really well. The kids were good listeners today. We are teaching them about gratitude this month and today's story was about Jesus healing the Ten Lepers. Only one came back to Him to say Thank You! We look at the other 9 and think how ungrateful they were. How often though, do we forget to say Thank You when we are shown kindness?

Awana is going well. Last week we had a lot of kids there including 2 new ones. Most of the time the kids are good listeners. We have such important things to teach them that it really makes me happy when they listen well. Even when we don't think they are listening though, they often learn more than we think. I love being a part of teaching them and helping them memorize scripture. They are all such special children and they all deserve to hear the Good News we are sharing with them.

My Mom came over for a couple of days recently and helped me with cleaning the house. She is so opposite of me when it comes to stuff like that. She is a hard worker and seems to "love" cleaning. I love her so much! I'm thankful for her and glad that she is so near. Even when I feel that I am failing sometimes, she always supports me and cheers me on. She lifts me up and helps me to not be down on myself. She really helped me a lot when she came over last week.

Oh, here is some exciting news. I am going to go on a mission trip with some other people from church to Mexico. We have really good friends who are missionaries there. We are going to help them with a new building that they are building there. I am really excited about going! Tim doesn't know if he will go yet or not, but he said that I can go. It will be for a little over a week and we will be going sometime in the spring. I have never gone on a trip like that so I am really looking forward to it. Our friends who are missionaries there, Ben and Beth, are some of Tim and my best friends. They are a couple that taught us a lot when they were here a couple of years ago. They live so much for God and they are so obediant to His Will for them. We really look up to them as people we want to be like. I can't wait to see them again and be able to help them out in some way.

Well, I guess that is enough blogging/updating for today. It's getting late and I am tired. I want to try to update this a little more often than I have lately. Keep checking in for more updates and photos. :)

Have a great day!