50 Things I've Learned in my first 50 Years

1. When you're young you don't want a nap, when you're old you wish you could have one.
2. It's okay to be goofy sometimes and have fun.
3. Pray about everything.
4. Chocolate is my friend.
5. Work begins and last a lifetime, enjoy your youth while you can.
6. God's timing is perfect, mine on the other hand is....not so perfect!
7. A Ritz cracker with toasted marshmallow on top is the bomb.
8. Starbucks is a wonderful place.
9. FORGIVE! Period!
10. Love getting to know people, ask questions, lots of them and really listen.
11. What you think you are-you become.
12. Family will be there when all others leave you.
13. You should go to the beach once a year -experience God and his wonder, relax and get through the rest of the year.
14. Church is your forever family.
15. Sunday school is as important as church-it's where the loving meets the need!
16. Someone else is always watching you!
17. Babies are a precious gift from God.
18. Music can calm the savage beast, cure what ails you and really touch your heart.
19. Laughter really is the best medicine.
20. Cigarettes are not our friends.
21. Have I said Pray often.
22. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
23. People need love the most when they deserve it the least.
24. Speak not as though it were not!
25. We are our own worst enemy.
26. Enjoy the little things, they really are the big things.
27. I'm so lucky to have had two Christian parents!
28. This world can be mean, surround yourself with good and positive.
29. Take lots of pictures, even everyday stuff, it's a memory keeper.
30. To have friends, be the best friend you can be.
31. Give more than you take.
32. Cook lots of casseroles for the sick and the sad, it will come back to you.
33. Never say I can't, because you won't!
34. Invest yourself in others, it will pay you back.
35. You're never to old to act like a child and enjoy life.
36. If it smells bad don't eat it.
37. God is good all the time!
38. Smell a baby as often as you can-hold it too if you're lucky.
39. Try to laugh everyday and for sure smile. People will wonder what you are up to!
40. Even beautiful people are ugly and vice versa.
41. I couldn't live without music, laughter and the love of my family and friends.
42. I have a heart for the underdog.
43. It's hard to be good to those who hurt and despise you, do it anyway.
44. Don't stop with one prayer or twenty, be persistent in prayer.
45. God loves me even when I'm unlovable.
46. We should eat more fruits and vegetables-I know it and don't do it.
47. Let go of yesterday and get excited about tomorrow.
48. Keep friends from early in your life, they keep you grounded and love you unconditionally.
49. A book, a blanket, an afternoon= restoration for your spirit.
50. It's not the size of something that counts, its what's inside that matters.

Yep, thats a few of the important things I've learnined~I'm still learning!
Be blessed!

Prayer~A conversation with God

I wake up and most days I talk to my Husband. I drive to work and I speak to my coworkers. I speak to the sweet elderly. The phone rings and it’s a friend- we have a sweet conversation. And so my day goes. The conversations I’m really working on are the ones I have with God. I have been reading an awesome book called The Power of Persistence by Micheal Catt.  It is a very good book on prayer. I think we take conversing with God for granted, He wants us to talk to him about everything and anything.

Many times when I look at my blog, quite often actually I see that someone has been to a post I put entitled I Pray you enough, it was an email I had received that touched me. It makes me think that people are looking for thoughts on praying.

The U.S. News and World Report ran a cover story entitled “The Power of Prayer”.The article shared a recent Roper poll that found that nearly half of all Americans said they pray regularly or meditate every day.Far more than those who regularly participate in corporate worship. It also shared some interesting facts found in over six thousand responses to a poll they conducted:

*75.6% say they are Christians.

*64% say they pray more than once a day.

*56% say they pray most often for family members.

*3.3% say they pray for strangers.

*38.3% say that the most important purpose of prayer is intimacy with God.

*41.2% say their prayers are often answered.

*1.5% say their prayers are never answered.

*73.9% say when their prayers are not answered,the most important reason is that they did not fit into God’s plan.

*5.1 % say they pray most often in a house of worship.

*79.4% say they pray at home.

All of these are interesting facts found in the December 2004 issue of  U.S. News and World Report and retold in Michael Catt’s book on prayer.

The most important prayer we pray is the first one God hears, when we pray the pray of salvation.

John 9:31 (New International Version)

³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.

1 Peter 3:12 (New International Version)

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
      and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
   but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

Isaiah 59:2 (New International Version)

² But your iniquities have separated
       you from your God;
       your sins have hidden his face from you,
       so that he will not hear.

Ask yourself this question-when was the last time you had an absolutely meaningful deep conversation that had true meaning with an absolute stranger?

Do many of us want the benefits without the relationship?

I want both-I want the comfort, the joy, the counsel of being able to talk to God about everything. I want the power to see things I can’t even imagine. I want to rest in Him so that even when I don’t know what to ask for, He knows.

Jeremiah 33:3 (New International Version)

³ 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

I’m going deeper in learning about having a life of prayer and conversing with God and I’m excited about it!

Be blessed,

Some More Things I've LOVED for a Long Time!

Waking up to the smell of bacon-cos that means I was at Granny Pearl's(I still get that feeling when I wake up in a house to the smell of Bacon)
Listening to music for hours
Reading good books
When my children say they love me
My daddy's biscuits
Sunday School;o)
Coffee
Just mowed grass in spring time
Sitting on the beach and sensing God's presence
Time spent with friends
Your whole family together around a dinner table
The smell of babies (Heaven)
Singing for the Lord
Giving gifts
Knowing God loves me -even though I don't deserve it

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Homemade chicken soup when you don't feel good

A freshly vacumned floor

a house that smells good

A call from a friend

singing with Juju

time with my grandbabies

jelly bellys

finishing something I'm knitting

reading a book that changes my life (The POWER OF PERSISTANCE by Michael Catt)

Fresh flowers

smiles and hugs

coffee with French vanilla creamer

a fresh snowfall

doing something for someone else

reading good blogs

my quiet time