Things I'm Thankful For

- Jesus, my salvation, rock, comforter and friend

- Shaun, the wonderful man the Lord brought into my life, who loves me for who I am and who proved to me that not all men are the same

- My Dad, for his wisdom and earnestness in teaching me what I needed to know about life and being an example of Godliness

- Carol Mom, who loved me enough to give me life in spite of her health issues

- Kristi Mom, for the countless energy spent raising me and teaching me the things I need to know in life

- My siblings, all eight of them who each give something special to our family. I love them all so much!

- Siblings spouses, who love and adore my siblings and are special additions to our family as well

- Nephews, eight energetic bundles of blessing

- Nieces, three adorable princesses

- Friends who have been and are getting married to Godly men and women

- My single friends who are staying faithful and trusting God and constantly an encouragement to me

- All my friends, simply because each of you are precious and a joy to me

- My job, God has blessed again and again through my bosses

- My Paralegal Certification! YAY!!!! I'm official

- My Car, I still smile every time I drive it and it's finally PAID FOR!!!

- God keeping me safe over the last year of living in a not so great neighborhood

- Learning life lessons from little girls in my Sunday School class and coming to realize that sometimes children have more insight and wisdom than adults

- For the privilege of helping to shape lives this year and leading a few teens to Christ

- Finally getting to take Shaun home to meet my family!

- Health

and I could keep going for a long time...but those are just some of my top most things I'm thankful for. Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving this year and thanking God for each of your lives!

Spin Class...

...makes me think about Shaun, when they play this song. Nothing like a little Cascada to get the day going at 6:00 AM.

Happy Friday!

Almost There!!

Is it just me, or is anyone else out there taken back that Thanksgiving is only a week away?!?! Life has been one fast paced movement forward and here I am with a holiday right around the corner. In the last week, I've had a friend get married, one get engaged and another decide to go ahead and get married this coming Sunday. Wow! Cupid, slow down just a little, PLEASE! In the mix of all of that, I'm trying to keep my head focused on Thanksgiving.

It's going to be a big event this year. I'm bringing Shaun home for the first time to finally meet my parents, Grandparents and my younger siblings. I'm so excited and can't wait to show him off. In turn I get to meet all of his family and will finally be meeting my younger siblings special someones and getting to know them. Between all of us, Thanksgiving will be sporting 4 new special someones at my parents house. Bless their hearts, I bet their heads are swimming right now in a very good way.

I simply can't wait. I feel like a little kid anticipating Christmas.

Remembering Our Veterans

To all my friends and family who have served, are serving and to those who I don't know at all, but risk your life every day for our country...Thank You from the bottom of my heart! You are loved, respected and appreciated beyond words!

Thoughts of Today

I love life. I love the people in my life. I feel happy all the time. I wake up happy, I go to bed happy, I feel peaceful when I lay my head on my pillow every night. Doesn't mean my life is perfect by any means. I have many ups and downs and thankfully enough of both to keep life in balance, but all in all....life is good. Life is just really good.

27 Years Later....

We love you, Mom, and we still miss you every day.

Tough Love

Have any of you ever been thrown into the middle of a situation that was out of your control, yet required you to keep loving like Jesus did? I sit here thinking about Jesus.... WWJD. Old, cliche-ick, pop cultural to the point of "outdated" yet, still thought provoking.

What Would My Jesus Do? I can tell you right now what Rebecca would do. I'd take my hurt feelings, tell them all about themselves, look for some kind of personal justification for doing so, throw a temper tantrum screaming "But what about MEEEEE?" then feel the miserable let down of not being obedient to Christ and loving in spite of being wronged. I know this in my head and heart, but my flesh wants so badly to win this battle.

Guess you could say this week has thrown more than one opportunity my way to demonstrate unconditional love to others who are not so much very lovable at the moment. Rest assured, I am not talking about Shaun! Quite the contrary. If anything he's been my sounding board and my sweet gentle reminder to have a good attitude, be the bigger person and love as Jesus would in spite of my own feelings. Not what I wanted to hear at the moment, but very much what I needed him to tell me.

Setting my feelings aside, squaring my shoulders back, being purposefully loving, I'm pressing on. Pray for me...it's not as easy as it sounds. This love thing is TOUGH!