There Is A Season - Intro

- tagged

My pretend BFF, Angie, tagged me on her blog the other day.  It's a really good thing I have her blog saved separately (with just a few others) from my Google Reader blogs or else I may not have seen I was "tagged" until I waded thru 447 unread blogs in my reader.

Here goes the tag:

1. What is your current obsession?
my Blackberry

2. What is your weirdest obsession?
finding new skins for my Blackberry    

3. Recall a fond childhood memory?
going to New York City when I was 7, flying alone, and meeting my great-grandmther when I got there.


4. What’s for dinner?
not even gonna think about it since we ate at 4:30 after we fished in a couples tournament today.


5. What would you eat for your last meal?
Angie said Mexican food & also some banana pudding.  I could totally agree with that which makes me love her more as my pretend BFF.

6. What’s the last thing you bought?
A pair of lounge / track type pants from Wally World to take to the tournament.  I will not call them Yoga pants because I told Angie's sister that me & Yoga Pants would not be a pretty sight.

7. What are you listening to right now?
hubs in the floor playing with BB.

8. What do you think of the person who tagged you?
I think I'm pretty clear where I stand on that - LOL.  It's a good thing she lives four hours away or so, or I might be a stalker - I'm just sayin'.

9. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I'd love a beach house or lake house, whichever one would be most feasible for the whole family.

10. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
sleep, we were up at 3:30a.m for the fishing tournament.

11. Which language do you want to learn?
the baby language BB speaks....LOL, right now she sounds a lot like Donnie Thornberry (remember The Thornberry's?)

12. What’s your favorite quote (for now)?
that's too deep for me to go right now, going on too little sleep.

13.What is your favorite colour?
I like the blue color of the shirt I have on right now, kind of royal blue.

14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
my brown polka dot shirt from Target.  I'm a simple person.


15. What is your dream job?
I want to be a nurse.

16.What’s your favorite magazine?
I can't tell you the last time I picked up a magazine.

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
probably my kids.


18. Describe your personal style?
"comfy" - LOL, that is so random???

19. What are you going to do after this?
as little as possible, remember we were up at 3:30 for a FISHING TOURNAMENT !!!

20. What are your favorite films?
Steel Magnolias, Sweet Home Alabama, Hope Floats.

21. What’s your favorite fruit?
fresh pineapple

22.What inspires you?
definitely the three sweet girls I've been blessed with!


23. Your favorite books?
have not read a book in forever, except The Shack and I didn't finish it.  I had my daughter tell me how it ended.  Lame, I know.

24. Do you collect anything?
Harmony Garden and I'd love more Arthur Court horse pieces.

25. Any advice from bitter experience?
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me....OH WAIT, that could be my quote answer too - yessss!

26. What makes you follow a blog?
common ground

I won't tag anyone because I really don't think anyone reads my blog anymore - LOL

"Hope"

(from my Wednesday's Woman post - 1/10/2007

Wednesday's Woman

This Wednesday's Woman is a special woman and takes me back to why I felt moved to begin Wednesday's Woman.....to pay honor to someone who's had an impact on my life.

I'll call her "Hope". 

Let me say, she's somewhat of a recluse.  I don't know her very well and would love to get to know her better.  I'm sure she's reading this and maybe this will help draw her out.

She's not a modern day Proverbs 31 woman and may not even be a close second, yet she does strive to be a Godly woman and seeks God's will for every aspect of her life.  Her walk with God is a steadfast walk though often on an uneven path.

Hope has dreams and desires, yet she knows some may never be fulfilled.  Even still, Hope is so very secure in herself, where she is and in who she is.  Hope knows her beauty inside and out and knows her imperfections, and uses them all to her good.

Hope is a collector, but not of trinkets or trivial things.  She is a collector of knowledge, of time and of friends.  She collects the knowledge, she shares the knowledge and she uses the knowledge wisely.  She uses her time wisely yet lives life to the fullest capturing each moment in time - with just a memory and a smile.  She has friends and like a true collector, she cherishes them like treasures, treats them with TLC and respect for the prizes they are and with time she sees their value increase. 

Hope's personality is enduring and unwavering....not emotionless, but she is a "constant".  She is a constant for her family and friends and a constant for even strangers.  Hope is a realist, practical and sensible.  Her temperament is locked in on "simmer", never boils but never cools.

Hope has concern "for others" - yet not concerned "with others".  She's the least judgmental person I've ever met and competition is simply not her thing.   I wish there were more Hope's in this world.

I'd love to tell you more about her, but as I mentioned I am still getting to know her.  Hope is not someone I can easily call on the phone or run to the mall with, in fact she's pretty evasive.  Hope can be be downright hard to get a hold of at times.....

You see, simply put Hope is the woman I "hope" to be, the wife, woman, daughter and friend I pray to be.  I am more jealous of her than any other woman I know and sometimes I feel I chase her away.  Sometimes I think Hope is closer to me than my shadow and smiling with an approving nod - saying "That's it sweetie, You can do it, Just a little more, See it's not so hard". 

She's the woman I sometimes think is out of reach, an impossibility in this life and sometimes I feel as though Hope is slipping away. Yet I know with God all things are possible and through him Hope is not lost.  I know I am still clay in God's hand, a diamond in the rough (even though sometimes I feel more like a rock that just needs polishing).  Through it all I know Hope is still shining through.   In Him, I know there is always Hope and even more..... a promise.....I hope you have this same "Hope" and a promise through your days and nights, through good and bad and most of all as you seek God's face and will for your life.

Jeremiah 29 : 11 - 14;  11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD,..........."

 

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This Wednesday's Woman is a special woman and takes me back to why I felt moved to begin Wednesday's Woman.....to pay honor to someone who's had an impact on my life.

I'll call her "Hope". 

Let me say, she's somewhat of a recluse.  I don't know her very well and would love to get to know her better.  I'm sure she's reading this and maybe this will help draw her out.

She's not a modern day Proverbs 31 woman and may not even be a close second, yet she does strive to be a Godly woman and seeks God's will for every aspect of her life.  Her walk with God is a steadfast walk though often on an uneven path.

Hope has dreams and desires, yet she knows some may never be fulfilled.  Even still, Hope is so very secure in herself, where she is and in who she is.  Hope knows her beauty inside and out and knows her imperfections, and uses them all to her good.

Hope is a collector, but not of trinkets or trivial things.  She is a collector of knowledge, of time and of friends.  She collects the knowledge, she shares the knowledge and she uses the knowledge wisely.  She uses her time wisely yet lives life to the fullest capturing each moment in time - with just a memory and a smile.  She has friends and like a true collector, she cherishes them like treasures, treats them with TLC and respect for the prizes they are and with time she sees their value increase. 

Hope's personality is enduring and unwavering....not emotionless, but she is a "constant".  She is a constant for her family and friends and a constant for even strangers.  Hope is a realist, practical and sensible.  Her temperament is locked in on "simmer", never boils but never cools.

Hope has concern "for others" - yet not concerned "with others".  She's the least judgmental person I've ever met and competition is simply not her thing.   I wish there were more Hope's in this world.

I'd love to tell you more about her, but as I mentioned I am still getting to know her.  Hope is not someone I can easily call on the phone or run to the mall with, in fact she's pretty evasive.  Hope can be be downright hard to get a hold of at times.....

You see, simply put Hope is the woman I "hope" to be, the wife, woman, daughter and friend I pray to be.  I am more jealous of her than any other woman I know and sometimes I feel I chase her away.  Sometimes I think Hope is closer to me than my shadow and smiling with an approving nod - saying "That's it sweetie, You can do it, Just a little more, See it's not so hard". 

She's the woman I sometimes think is out of reach, an impossibility in this life and sometimes I feel as though Hope is slipping away. Yet I know with God all things are possible and through him Hope is not lost.  I know I am still clay in God's hand, a diamond in the rough (even though sometimes I feel more like a rock that just needs polishing).  Through it all I know Hope is still shining through.   In Him, I know there is always Hope and even more..... a promise.....I hope you have this same "Hope" and a promise through your days and nights, through good and bad and most of all as you seek God's face and will for your life.

Jeremiah 29 : 11 - 14;  11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD,..........."

"The Vase"

(excerpt from post on 7/21/08)

Yesterday, the Pastor's sermon was about brokenness. As he spoke, you could hear the brokenness in the room and more breaking occurring. He conveyed how you can allow yourself to be broken to be used by God.

I found myself comparing my own brokenness to a vase I have sitting on my mantle. The vase is chipped and there is a piece of it laying next to it on the mantle. This is not the first time it has been chipped. I have picked up the pieces of the vase before and they have been carefully pieced and glued back together to attempt repair. Yet, each time it gets broken it becomes more and more difficult to repair. When it broke this last time, I wondered if it would be able to be repaired. At some point, things do break beyond repair, the pieces can't be glued back together and even if they could be glued back together - would it be "presentable"?

In so many ways, I see myself in that chipped, broken and superglued vase. I've experienced my own brokenness and piecing back together. I've been carrying around the glued together fragments of my brokenness and picking up the pieces for years now. And sometimes I feel pretty banged up. When another chip occurs, I wonder how much more can I take?

Then yesterday, I was reminded that even when I feel broken beyond repair God can take my brokenness and make something new and great out of it......if only I will let it. In Him, I can be made whole and new (2 Corinthians 5:17 - .....all things are become new!). I am reminded of a song that has been a favorite of mine for a long time. It is by Crystal Lewis - "Beauty for Ashes" and it is based on the verse Isaiah 61:3 - "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." It's a pretty awesome comparison to think that we can go from a broken, chipped up vase to as strong as a tree in order to glorify the Lord....but that is His desire for our lives.

It is my prayer that when I see me, I won't see a chipped up vase. And it is my prayer that God will take my pieces and use them to his Glory to see me firmly planted.

 

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twitter

If you have found your way here from my twitter account, please accept my apologies for the lewd activity that occurred as a result of my twitter account being hijacked today. Many emails and tweets have been sent to Twitter to try to rectify and stop the activity. There are no words I can say to express how upsetting this has been. (if you are so inclined, please email twitter at support@twitter.com and tweet @spam with my REAL user id and what has happened - thanks!)

Update - 6/24:  at this point, Twitter has only sent a few automated emails in response to the activity and nothing has been done to disable my old account of "thereisaseason".  The hacker changed the name to a very ugly name but my info is still there on the page.  nice - huh?  I hope Twitter will disable the account or delete it.  I have set up a new account so I can keep in touch with many of the 700+ friends I had made on Twitter.  If you would like that user id please email me at thereisaseason@gmail.com and I'll be glad to send it to you!   Thanks for all of your support and kindness during this time.

 

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Change of plans~

In less than a matter of 24 hours everything we've had planned for the weekend has been overturned.  Lu was supposed to go to the lake with her aunt and uncle but the power on the new lake house didn't get turned on.  Guess a hot lake house wouldn't be much fun? But we still had a barrel race to go to, that is until Lib started running a fever last night, head hurting, crying, shivering - you get the picture, right?  So, I'm thinking about now that a horse show in a heat index of 105 isn't the best place for her even if the actual barrel race is indoors!

Wow, my head was kind of spinning this morning and it wasn't because Lib had me up at 3a.m.  I was a little, maybe a lot, disappointed that everything we planned was being changed up so quickly.  Plus, Lib has been riding for points/standings and her last show she didn't have a good run so she needs to do some catching up.  Being on the couch isn't going to help those standings, ha ha.  Then a friend messaged me and said "so sorry for all the changes in your plans, but I'm certain that God has His reasons, even if we can't understand them".  It was at that moment, I stepped back and said "I got it God".  I messaged her back and at the end I typed "His Ways...."

The other day another friend wrote that she wanted "more Him, less her...less junk" etc.  I've learned more than once that if that's not my hearts desire or my goal, that God has a way of making it more about Him and less about me, my wants, my desires.  I'm trusting in His plan for this weekend.  If I can trust Him with my eternity surely I can trust Him with my weekend.

~His Ways....

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"

 declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

 

this is an older picture of Lib and her first barrel horse, who now has arthritis but we still have her.  I just love this picture and felt like posting it!

 

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Let It Rain....

It's pouring rain here today, buckets and boatloads of rain.  I'm reminded of a song we sang frequently at our former church....Our former church, that I miss so much.  Even if we had not moved the church would have changed soon enough when the pastor left.  That church has gone thru some real changes and is definitely not the church we left.  I miss the church we left, not the church that is there now.

I don't blog very much these days simply because I don't have a whole lot of time to sit down and try join all my thoughts in to cohesive sentences (ha ha).  The kids keep us very busy and the baby is sitting here as I type pulling all sorts of who-knows-what from the couch cushions.  Well, that's one way to clean out the couch.

We were excited at the thoughts of a barrel race today but the rain has ensured we will have time together as a family in another way.  Lib is only showing a few shows a month as she is showing in a different barrel racing circuit this year and sometimes there's only one a month.  This one was really close to home so we were looking forward to it for the past few weeks. 

Tomorrow we will be having Lib's birthday party.  It's a few weeks after her birthday but we were in Tennessee the weekend after birthday for hubs fishing tournament.  He didn't have a great finish but the girls had a blast at the resort's pool, where we had a cabin for the week. 

The girls have brand new pageant dresses and can't wait to give them a try.  The alterations are being completed on Lib's and Lu's is ready and waiting for the next one.

Today I'll be content watch it rain, spend time with my beautiful family and try not to ponder too much the things and people of which I have no control. Lord knows there are plenty of those things and people in our lives. 

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Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:5 and 18

meet Miss Alabama - Liz Cochran

Last night, the girls and I attended the crowning night of Miss Alabama. They enjoyed it tremendously. Pictured is the newly crowned Miss Alabama, Liz Cochran. Alongside her is her prelim pageant director from Miss Hoover, and our friend, Tim Gann. He also directs the Miss Center Point pageant, who was also a top 10 finalist. First Alternate was Miss North Jefferson County, Colene Burns.

"A Woman Insipired" online conference

June 8 - 11th

Arrangements for Randy Sandford

The arrangements for Randy Sandford are as follows:

Jefferson Memorial in Trussville

Viewing:  Friday 5-7

Funeral:  Saturday 2:00

 

I believe the family has requested in lieu of flowers that donations be sent in their name (The Sandford Family) to The Healing Place Church, Trussville Alabama.

Please continue to lift Cindy and the boys, Jane (Randy's mom) and the Franks up in prayer. 

 

The link to the obituary is below:

http://obits.al.com/obituaries/birmingham/obituary.aspx?n=randall-dane-sandford-randy&pid=127543866

Praying for the Sandford family....

Yesterday, a beloved father, husband and friend to many went to be with the Lord.  Randy Sandford was killed in a tragic accident as he was pinned by a train in downtown Birmingham.  We all attended church together at Cathedral and his singing ministered to many.  Randy's wife Cindy works close by me and I have been to lunch with her as another co-worker of mine is close friends with her.  I know the grief of losing a husband and father to your children.  I pray Cindy will feel the arms of so many lifting her up in prayer.  I pray for the boys to find guidance now from their Heavenly Father and grow in wisdom in the years ahead knowing their Father is with the Lord.

Please keep the family and friends of Randy in your prayers. 

The link to the obituary is below:

http://obits.al.com/obituaries/birmingham/obituary.aspx?n=randall-dane-sandford-randy&pid=127543866