Unity. It doesn't mean the same. It doesn't mean only one. It does mean together. It does mean for one purpose.
Unity. It brings us together. In Christ, it's what makes us "the body". It doesn't mean everyone will agree on every single theological point. It does mean we all agree on the most important one: Jesus is LORD!
Unity. It does mean we can set aside our differences to worship Him. It does mean we each bring something to the table & we accept each person for who they are and what they can offer.
Unity. It does mean we urge one another to use our gifts. We encourage, congratulate, and love one another. We offer a love that no one can refuse.
We are in Christ unified. One unit but with many parts. Each part knowing his or her importance. If even one does not know then there is no longer unity.
There must be room for forgiveness, grace, and love. There must be a foundation. His name is JESUS! Only in Him can there be UNITY.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Couldn't have said it better myself
“Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. Love is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask and receive from God. On this love the engine of marriage is run; being in love was the explosion that started it.”
-- C.S. Lewis
-- C.S. Lewis
Saturday, April 4, 2009
the one with the crazy busy life
OH MY GOODNESS!
I love my job, BUT I am definitely having to adjust to having less "free" time. I am a tv junkie and I am like 3 weeks behind on most of my shows. I guess it probably doesn't help that I got a puppy.
Sadie-Grace is doing great though. She is still sweet as ever!! She is getting so big. We have had her for 2 weeks and she has grown twice as big as when we first got her. CRAZY!! Scott and I have had kind of a rocky time trying to figure out how to train. We've had some disagreements.
But, thanks to my good friend, Molly, I have been reading the book "The Loved Dog". It's amazing! If you are a dog lover, or have a dog....READ IT!! Anyway, we've been able to figure out how we are going to train her and what she is and isn't allowed to do.
My cats are still not adjusting well, but they are getting there. They slowly are making their way out into the main part of the house more and more. I think they are mad at us. They just don't understand why we would need a dog. But, evidently neither does Josh :-)
And, I shall end with a story. A funny one if you aren't me. Embarrassing if you are the employee at walmart.
So I went to walmart with my mom. We were looking for some aqua colored weather safe pillows. As we were walking out the employee asked if we found what we needed. I told her no and that my mom was looking for a specific color. She then asked "for the baby?". "What baby?" I asked.
Look of horror appears on her face. But, that's not the end. "You're not fat" she says, "You just have a big belly". OMG! Seriously. I know I gain weight in my belly, but that was just rude. Then, she tried to convince me I'm pregnant (and tried to give me one of her kids).
I guess it's time to go back on weight watchers. Monday morning will be the start. :-)
P.S. I am NOT pregnant!!!
I love my job, BUT I am definitely having to adjust to having less "free" time. I am a tv junkie and I am like 3 weeks behind on most of my shows. I guess it probably doesn't help that I got a puppy.
Sadie-Grace is doing great though. She is still sweet as ever!! She is getting so big. We have had her for 2 weeks and she has grown twice as big as when we first got her. CRAZY!! Scott and I have had kind of a rocky time trying to figure out how to train. We've had some disagreements.
But, thanks to my good friend, Molly, I have been reading the book "The Loved Dog". It's amazing! If you are a dog lover, or have a dog....READ IT!! Anyway, we've been able to figure out how we are going to train her and what she is and isn't allowed to do.
My cats are still not adjusting well, but they are getting there. They slowly are making their way out into the main part of the house more and more. I think they are mad at us. They just don't understand why we would need a dog. But, evidently neither does Josh :-)
And, I shall end with a story. A funny one if you aren't me. Embarrassing if you are the employee at walmart.
So I went to walmart with my mom. We were looking for some aqua colored weather safe pillows. As we were walking out the employee asked if we found what we needed. I told her no and that my mom was looking for a specific color. She then asked "for the baby?". "What baby?" I asked.
Look of horror appears on her face. But, that's not the end. "You're not fat" she says, "You just have a big belly". OMG! Seriously. I know I gain weight in my belly, but that was just rude. Then, she tried to convince me I'm pregnant (and tried to give me one of her kids).
I guess it's time to go back on weight watchers. Monday morning will be the start. :-)
P.S. I am NOT pregnant!!!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
the one with the new puppy
Scott and I got the sweetest puppy ever. Really. I'm not just saying that. She is soooooo calm and I love her.
She is a Lab mix of some sort. She was abandoned. The family that I used to nanny for, found her (along with her brothers and sister) on their farm. She is adorable.
She is Black and White, with the softest fur. Her name is Sadie-Grace "Oreo" Johnson.
The cats are not so excited about her. I let Sadie get used to the house a little before I let the cats out. Duchess came out and new immediately that something wasn't right. She kind of walked around cautiously.
She jumped up on the couch next to me and was licking me and such. She looked over and saw Sadie laying on the other side and realized Sadie was alive. Then she proceeded to jump half way across the room and back to the den. She hasn't been out since. lol. Hopefully she will warm up to Sadie and they will be great friends one day. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. We'll see.
She is a Lab mix of some sort. She was abandoned. The family that I used to nanny for, found her (along with her brothers and sister) on their farm. She is adorable.
She is Black and White, with the softest fur. Her name is Sadie-Grace "Oreo" Johnson.
The cats are not so excited about her. I let Sadie get used to the house a little before I let the cats out. Duchess came out and new immediately that something wasn't right. She kind of walked around cautiously.
She jumped up on the couch next to me and was licking me and such. She looked over and saw Sadie laying on the other side and realized Sadie was alive. Then she proceeded to jump half way across the room and back to the den. She hasn't been out since. lol. Hopefully she will warm up to Sadie and they will be great friends one day. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. We'll see.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
the one with the new job
Well, the time has finally come. I got a new Job. Thank you God!
Last Tuesday, on my way home from work, I spent the entire drive talking to God. We were having a great discussion. I was saying how I didn't know if I was listening, or if he just wasn't speaking to me yet. I asked him if I should wait for the job at metrocare, or if I should be looking for something else.
There was another place I had applied, but they prohibited going to school. I didn't like the idea of not having that freedom to take a class. I wouldn't want to go back full time, but not even one class...not good.
But, I asked God if I should go ahead and pursue it. I didn't know what his plan was, so for me to completely turn something down didn't seem like the right thing either.
The next day I got an email from my mom saying one of the team leads for another team was interested in me (the lady texted my mom). I kind of felt like this was my answer from God. "Just wait for me."
Well, good thing I did. His timing is perfect. The position opened Monday (the day before this long discussion with God). Diane (my supervisor) just happened to be standing with the right people at the right time (or really maybe God just had her there at the right time). And, the job is perfect for me.
I will be a case worker for the RAP (rapid assessment and prevention) team. I will work mostly from home and my car. I have to go in for a meeting once a week at 10:00 am. Other than that I make my own schedule. I have to see a certain number of patients a week, but I'm a pretty organized person, so I don't see this as being a problem. My supervisor is not a micro manager and she is a strong Christian! She knows I am considering Grad school and she is okay with that. She knows I have no experience, and she is okay with that. Also, I get a cell phone stipend.
The best thing about this, is the process. I was so afraid of the process, but really all God wanted was for me to be okay with it. To be okay with whatever he had in store for me, even if it was going to be hard. As soon as I stopped holding on to this idea of how I wanted things to happen, God opened doors. As soon as I completely surrendered to him, he took control and good things happened.
God has taught me so much through this. Don't get me wrong the journey is no where near over and I am still learning a lot. I still don't know what the rest of my life (school, work, & family) looks like, but I know God has his perfect plan. I know he's going to take care of me & I'm definitely okay with the process. I may have to remind myself of this many times, but it's one step closer.
I do want to ask all of you who are reading my blog to hold me accountable to one thing. I don't want to be that person that gets a new job and then complains about every aspect of it. I don't anticipate this happening, but if I do, please do not be afraid to call me out on it. I want to be joyful about my job. That's not to say that I won't have a bad day or two, but I don't want those days to be the only ones I talk about.
God is Amazing!
Last Tuesday, on my way home from work, I spent the entire drive talking to God. We were having a great discussion. I was saying how I didn't know if I was listening, or if he just wasn't speaking to me yet. I asked him if I should wait for the job at metrocare, or if I should be looking for something else.
There was another place I had applied, but they prohibited going to school. I didn't like the idea of not having that freedom to take a class. I wouldn't want to go back full time, but not even one class...not good.
But, I asked God if I should go ahead and pursue it. I didn't know what his plan was, so for me to completely turn something down didn't seem like the right thing either.
The next day I got an email from my mom saying one of the team leads for another team was interested in me (the lady texted my mom). I kind of felt like this was my answer from God. "Just wait for me."
Well, good thing I did. His timing is perfect. The position opened Monday (the day before this long discussion with God). Diane (my supervisor) just happened to be standing with the right people at the right time (or really maybe God just had her there at the right time). And, the job is perfect for me.
I will be a case worker for the RAP (rapid assessment and prevention) team. I will work mostly from home and my car. I have to go in for a meeting once a week at 10:00 am. Other than that I make my own schedule. I have to see a certain number of patients a week, but I'm a pretty organized person, so I don't see this as being a problem. My supervisor is not a micro manager and she is a strong Christian! She knows I am considering Grad school and she is okay with that. She knows I have no experience, and she is okay with that. Also, I get a cell phone stipend.
The best thing about this, is the process. I was so afraid of the process, but really all God wanted was for me to be okay with it. To be okay with whatever he had in store for me, even if it was going to be hard. As soon as I stopped holding on to this idea of how I wanted things to happen, God opened doors. As soon as I completely surrendered to him, he took control and good things happened.
God has taught me so much through this. Don't get me wrong the journey is no where near over and I am still learning a lot. I still don't know what the rest of my life (school, work, & family) looks like, but I know God has his perfect plan. I know he's going to take care of me & I'm definitely okay with the process. I may have to remind myself of this many times, but it's one step closer.
I do want to ask all of you who are reading my blog to hold me accountable to one thing. I don't want to be that person that gets a new job and then complains about every aspect of it. I don't anticipate this happening, but if I do, please do not be afraid to call me out on it. I want to be joyful about my job. That's not to say that I won't have a bad day or two, but I don't want those days to be the only ones I talk about.
God is Amazing!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
the one with all the baptisms
Today was a different kind of church service. Instead of a "normal" sermon from our pastor, he talked a little bit about what baptism means and then 40 people were dunked! Many of those 40 were children. Not like in a baptizing babies kind of way. These children were taught about what it means and the commitment they'd be making if they decided to get baptized. These children chose to take that next step with God. AMAZING! God tells us that unless we become like children, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. I want to be like the children I saw (and helped) get baptized today. It was truly one of the greatest experience in my life to be up there baptizing my girls today!
p.s. I will post soon about my new job!
p.s. I will post soon about my new job!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
the one with cheap cable
I called Time Warner Cable today to see if there was anyway to suspend our cable for a few months without having to disconnect everything and send equipment back. The lady that I was connected with said "well let me look at your account and see if there is anyway I can make it affordable for you. " Alright. Wouldn't hurt....right?? Glad she did. She gave us the DVR for free for the next 6 months and saved us $30 on our monthly bill. Yippee! Turning off the cable is not a huge deal for me. Really I only have it for the DVR. I'm a tv junkie, but it's all network shows that I can watch online now. Now, I can still keep my cable and save money. So, moral of the story: if you have cable, satallite, or anything else that is a luxury item, try calling to see if they can give you a discount. It might just work and it wouldn't hurt to try. What's the worst thing that could happen? You'll end up paying the same amount your paying now!
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