Success!

The first day of 7th grade was a success! Yeah! As excited as Jake was, I knew it would be. He really is such a good student. His least favorite subject?...social studies. Well, God was lookin' out for him. When Jake was telling me about his day he said that his social studies teacher was SO cool. Jake thinks he's great! Maybe social studies will move up the ranks from least favorite class this year.

I did really well this morning, too. No tears! Our morning went very smoothly with no glitches whatsoever. I couldn't have asked for a better morning. Thank you God! :)

In case you haven't checked out the list of blogs I read, there's one by Sarah Markley that you really should check out. She's the sweetest woman from California. I absolutely love her writing style. She recently made a "confession" about her weight and needing to lose some of it. Her confession was done for accountability purposes. Those of you reading this who know me personally know that I have struggled with my weight for MANY years. Well, I'm here to join Sarah in her quest for weight reduction. This has been a matter of prayer for me for quite some time. I've made numerous attempts before to drop the pounds, but I don't think my heart was completely in it. Now, I've turned it all over to God and given Him complete control. So, I'm in it for the accountability also. PLEASE ask me about my progress - I will not be offended - I WANT you to do this. Keep me on my toes!

Unlike Sarah, I will not be sharing my current weight with you (sorry, just not gonna do it!). Let's just say I have a ways to go. :) Portion control is my main issue, followed closely by exercise. Last week was a successful week for portion control. I added exercise into the equation today. I'm on my way!!!

God > anxiety

This is our weekend before school begins. We have the obligatory before-school-starts haircut scheduled for today. School supplies are ready to be loaded into the backpack. Camera is ready for that ever-dreaded first day of school picture. We're all set, right? Well....

I'm already missing my Jacob. This is the first summer EVER since he's been in school that I've worked part time. We've been together pretty much every Monday and Friday of the last three months. Ya'll pray for me Monday. I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that it's gonna be as bad as that first day of kindergarten...the brave face at school, but tears all the way home (me, not Jake!). My child is growing up - 7th grade already. Only six more first days of school. More and more I hurt as much as I love that he's growing up. I am so proud of the young man he's becoming - that's the love part. I am also realizing that the years are going by so much more quickly and that before I know it he'll be picking a college or branch of the military to go into - that's the hurt part.

God has shown me that since my mom died I have grown increasingly afraid of losing Jim or Jake. I know that He will take care of them, but I still have moments of gripping fear. Just like with Mom, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that, should something happen, they'll be with the Lord - but they will be gone from me. I know it's a selfish thought, because being with Him is our ultimate place to be. So, what do I do? I cling to Him, trust Him, believe Him. Psalm 94:19 tells us "In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!" That's the verse I'm claiming when anxiety and fear try to grasp hold of me. Satan knows my weak spots - however, I have God's Word as my ammunition against him. As a child of God, anxiety has no place in our lives. Even though it may show up sometimes, God is stronger than it...never forget.

***All about love***

Well, to be truthful, I've had to work up the energy to write this post. I am by no means a fancy-schmancy writer, but I believe I am having writer's block. My mind can't settle on a topic.



Since my last post I've enjoyed my cousin's beautiful wedding, school shopping with Jake, and reuniting with my best friend from grade school through high school and beyond. Guess I'll just post my thoughts on each instance...



Megan's wedding: As I said, absolutely beautiful...and sweet. You could just look at the bride and groom and see the love they have for each other and how excited they were to finally join their lives into one.

School shopping with Jake: The list this year for 7th grade had a few questionable items on it, but we purchased everything anyway. Why do they really need a 3" binder - have you seen how WIDE those things are??? In the middle of walking through the selection of supplies we saw the scissors. Jake asked if he needed to get any of them, and I said no. He was SO pleased. The first year EVER he did not need to get scissors for school. Yippee! BUT, wait, that's another confirmation that my baby is growing up. Not yippee! I truly miss my grade schooler; however, I couldn't be more proud of my 7th grader. He really growing into a nice young man. Tonight was the "official end" of our school prep work. We got him registered for school, got his schedule, found his locker, and had the school pic taken. THEN, we were off to Red Lobster for the "mommy/Jake dinner while dad's out of town". A pound and a half of snow crab legs, a bowl of clam chowder, seafood stuffed flounder, grilled shrimp, crab topped linguini, and a basket of cheddar biscuits later, we're home and ready for a nap! But, there's leftovers in the fridge, and a fun time was had by all!


Reuniting with old friend: This took courage on both our parts. We've been friends since grade school - best friends. Some time after high school we had a "falling out". Can't really tell you why now. Then we mended things. About 5 or so years ago...another separation. Again...can't really tell you the cause of it. Two weeks ago, thanks to Classmates.com (not an advertisement), we again found each other.


I think the last 5 years have been the hardest of our lives. Not because we were not together as friends, but because of junk in our lives. I faced the loss of my mother, loss of grandfather, new wife for dad and strained relationship with them. She faced the end of a marriage, the loss of her home and church family, and people in the church turning on her. We're both at a much different place now in life and have both matured. (heck, we're almost 40!!) :) We had the courage to send each other messages, which led to emails, which led to an overnight visit during which we talked for about 12 hours (no tv, no nothing!). It was a fantastic visit. We live almost 2 hours apart now, so we'll be dealing with a "long distance relationship", and with school getting ready to start we'll both be busy with our childs' activities. But you know, just KNOWING the other person is there again means a lot.


...beginning a new life together, letting go a little more, new meaning to an old friendship - guess this post got a little deeper then originally thought, huh...and really - it's all about love!