Delayed gratification..... two parts

Part 1.
So the pastor talked about something Sunday. It struck me then, and tonight I took time to go back over it. I needed to reread it and let it sink in further. He challenged us to "develop the art of delayed gratification". That is a weakness of mine... and I dare say its a weakness of my generation. He challenged us to learn to delay gratification for the proper time. (reading from my notes) --a quote that struck me specifically was "Don't eat today what God has planned for tomorrow" -- "do it right, now, so that you don't have to re do it/ fix it later". So often I don't keep that in mind. I see a piece of clothing and want it now -- put it on credit. I see a piece of chocolate -- it sounds good to me. The examples abound, but do I take a moment to try and practice patience or self control -- not often...

He challenged us to have more self control and diligence. He particularly identified that diligence is something you do every day for a long time. He went on to share some vs that confirm God's desire to see these things to develop. And he shared that often God blesses us for our diligence -- you don't get blessed for quitting. That message hit me on so many levels... I wanted to share it with others and let it encourage others out there...

Part 2
Recently my aunt sent me a fun scuba diving map. She challenged/encouraged me to dream of having a dream vacation --scuba trip to Maui Hawaia in the future. A dream.... why is it that I don't easily allow myself to dream of big dreams. Am I too much of a realist to allow myself to have big dreams? But tonight I was challenged to dream big and expect God to bless me with special times, places, people and moments to refresh and encourage and surprise me. And then it struck me...





Part of dreaming big dreams -- delayed gratification. (My weakness). To dream big or have faith or expect big things... AND... be willing to wait for it to happen.

The bible is full of delayed blessings... the land of Isreal to the slaves -only after 40 years in the desert, Jonah's release from the belly of the fish -- after three days in the cramped dark claustraphobic area (imagine falling asleep only to awaken wandering "what is that thing swishing past your leg?"), Joseph being raised to second in command after years of being a slave and being imprisoned, Esther became a queen after being orphaned and raised by her cousin Mordecai.

So this week even when I fail I am going to retry at diligence and self control and dreaming big and wait to see what God has in store for me...

Maddie at 3 months & Jayden at 20 months

I got to spend some time with my niece and nephew. They are growing up fast. I have fun playing the papparazzi but must admit since going digital I am way behind on printing any pictures. I made my first scrapbook for Jaydens first few days and weeks and he is almost two. I better get started on Maddies... I had a share a few pics. Jayden and I played in the pillows and played hide and seek. Later I gave him his bath and made it a bubble bath. He had so much fun exploring the bubbles and even was brave enough to put his face under the bubbles -- so that he could come up with a face full of bubbles. I can't believe how verbal he is getting. Here are a few mored pics -- click here

Yard sale finds...

I love a bargain and I love artwork ... problem is, I can't afford to buy many pieces. But I found the answers -- yard sales in nice neighborhoods of Greenville. Janelle and I set off at 7am on my day off. There were bargains to be found and we were out to get them. We hit paydirt around 9am. We both noticed this set of oil paintings and agreed to get them and decide after we got home who would get them. After running it by Josie and find two other small pieces we agreed I got these two and Janelle got two more for her kitchen. I love the big one. Its the kind of picture I want to plan my living room around. The sail boats in the background and the blue ocean that you can fall into. -My perfect get away... just imagine the wind in my face whipping at my hair, the rippling of the sails, and the slicing noise of the boat in the water. The instant freedom from distractions. Ahh I love this beautiful world and can't wait to explore it more.

Here are some pics from a two weeks ago. I can't believe how difficult it is to get a toddler and an infant in one pictures.

This weekend I spent a night out with the girls then went up to Hendersonville for Saturday to get some work done.

Ownership now also includes manhandling large half broken limbs out of tall trees onto the roof top. Followed by rolling it (since its too heavy and bulky to pick up)off the roof. Then one must remove it from sight and since I don't own a chainsaw (half from fear of injury to my own limbs -- after fixing many limbs from the same self induced injuries and half because then its one more piece of equipment for me to try to maintain) ((and I mean try as I seem to fail more than to suceed at the maintaining part)) -can you put an aside inside another aside? Continuing on... I then had to drag said limb 20 feet into the woods. An easier task on superficial statement... problem is.. the limbs catch on all the underbrush which required tramping through briary underbrush in shorts to lift pieces free to drag it further into the woods. Some times my noisy smoke smelled apartment is easier (even when you observe cops breaking up females fighting in the parking lot from time to time).

I got a chance to hang out with the Foskey family. They are growing up so quickly... It was fun hanging out with everyone and playing on a trampoline.

Then I went salsa dancing late Saturday after eating a fresh strawberry pie (made from melt on your tongue strawberries from my garden) with the Wilder family.
Only to make it home 4 hours before having to make it up for church to dance. And worship was amazing on Sunday. God is doing some amazing things. Can't wait to know what he was working on freeing up... I realized the last chapter in my life was on Identity. I believe this next stage of my life is going to include vision and purpose....
Gotta run -- salsa calls