Nothing Says It All!!!

Proverbs 10:19

¹⁹ When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.

Proverbs 11:12

¹² A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor,

but a man of understanding holds his tongue.

Proverbs 17:28

²⁸ Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,
and discerning if he holds his tongue.

Holding your tongue is the wisest thing to do, yet the hardest thing to do. I myself am still learning to do this at 30! These 3 verses say it all. If you hold your tongue you are wise, understanding and discerning. Yet if you don't you are sure to sin, lack judgement and are a fool! I have been the latter 3 than I have the other.

Nothing says it all. You can say so much by saying nothing at all. I have found that when I have said nothing it was a lot easier to debate things in life than it was when I let my tongue control my thoughts and actions.

Saying nothing keeps you calm. Along with calming the other person-90% of the time. Sometimes when people say nothing we think that they aren't listening. Same with my grats, when people say nothing sometimes I think no one is reading or absorbing what God has given me to speak. I have found out that these things touch more than just my own life. And I give all the credit to God.

Friends started these Grats, and I'm hoping it spreads like wildfire. It has helped me look at my life and make it into something, it has helped me to learn to control my anger, even though it's not perfected. Just writing these and even coming back and reviewing them helps me tremendously!

Today I'm grateful for:

Children. I have had kids in and out of my house all day, kids that aren't just my own. And to see them gives me joy. To see that they have no care in the world but to play outside, play doctor/nurse and just have fun. I encourage them to soak it all up while it lasts. Oh what I give to go back to childhood for even a day to just have no worries. As a child we can't wait to be grown and when we get there, we wonder why.

Sunshine. I'm loving it. It's hot but it's better than freezing. Being able to get outside and play with the kids has been good for the soul! Playing softball with Caity has been good exercise and quality time with just her. It's something that I can do with her that's just me and her!

Nothing. Don't think I've ever been grateful for nothing but it's something worth being grateful for!

Weekend being here FINALLY! This weekend I am going to RELAX! I hope. I always say that but never do it. I miss the kids so I stay busy so I won't miss them so bad, In turn I don't relax at all!

Last but not least Friends and Family. Without them I wouldn't be where I am today.

Well go out and enjoy the sun, It's a natural mood lifter!

And do NOTHING, Say NOTHING and appreciate NOTHING!!!

Love to all!!!

Beauty from pain

My whole world is the pain inside me
The best i can do is just get through the day
When life before is only a memory
I'll wonder why God lets me walk through this place
And though i can't understand why this happened
I know that i will when i look back someday
And see how you've brought beauty from ashes
And made me as gold purified through these flames

Job 23:9-11 (King James Version)

⁹On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

¹⁰But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

The best we can do in any situation is to allow God to show us the good in it. Allow him to purify us and polish us. If we do this we will come out as gold. We have to allow beauty to come from the pain. Life is full of pain, But it's up to us what we do with it. Do you allow it to bring you down? Do you let it take you backwards instead of forwards?

No matter what is happening in your life right now, don't let it set you back, don't let it get you down. Grow and learn from it. Use it to empower you not deflate you.

Today I'm grateful for:

Beauty from Pain: Any Pain can be turned into something beautiful, if you allow God to take control and trust in Him.

Friends and Family: No matter how much Pain you have caused them, they still accept you. They allow beauty to come from the pain you've caused. I have failed both in many ways and I plan on living my life to make it up to them all. I am changing, I'm glad they are all just hanging in there until I am complete. When I come out on the other side, I will know who my true friends and my true family are because they will be there to meet me. I would not be where I'm at now w/o them and God.

My girls: They are growing up so fast. I am trying to learn to embrace them while they are still young. I don't want to spend my time just caring for them, it's got to be more than just that. I don't want to wait until it's too late. Seems like the day is usually spent just making it through to the end. Instead, I want to turn it around and make every hour I have with them precious and not wasted and not just trying to make it through to the end. I am working on this. It's hard when you are doing it alone, it's hard to not focus on just the needs, but they also need ME, not just what I can do for them!

Warm weather and the sun finally returning again. Today is going to be an awesome day. Caity has a softball game and I'll be able to enjoy it instead of freezing and in pain. I love watching her play and they are doing great this year. She wants to be a pitcher and she is going to do great I think, she starts lessons this weekend.

Today I hope that you don't let things discourage you but let them ENCOURAGE you. Let yourself be polished. Let Beauty come from the Pain.

Love you all!!!

Whose your Giant?

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." - Isaac Newton

I must say this is very true. I think God is my giant and because of standing on His shoulders, I have seen farther than I would have ever seen w/o Him.

This weekend has been awesome! I spent some MUCH needed time with my 3 girls. I can say that I feel the change inside of me. Even though the progress is slow, it is happening! I want to be the best I can be for not only myself but for my girls. I had a talk with them last night. I told them that I pray for them and with them and that when they saw mommy having a bad day or being in a bad mood I wanted them to stop me and pray for me. I know that God spoke that to me to speak to them, He knows that would help me tremendously. Sometimes when we are having a bad day, we are blinded by all that has happened. THIS will be my eye opener on those days.

We also talked about cleaning and responsibilities in the house and just how we kept our house clean and free of clutter we had to do the same with our heart. If we let bad in, bad will come out. If we fill it with clutter it will not be clean. I killed two birds with one stone in that convo. They agreed that we want our home to be clean for when people come over, and we want our hearts to be clean at all times also. I asked them that if mommy didn't clean the house and just let it go, what would people think when they came over? They said "They wouldn't want to come back". EXACTLY. Just as if we push Christ out of our hearts and fill it with bad things, he will not want to live there!

They are such a blessing in my life and I know sometimes I get at my wits end and need a break, but I could NOT imagine life w/o them. We had a girls night out Saturday night-me and my girls not my friends. We went to see "How to train your dragon"..........Such cute, sweet movie. The father of the boy displays how we are sometimes with our children. We sometimes are blinded by what "WE" want them to be and can't see "THEIR" true potential that FAR EXCEEDS what we though we wanted for them! They loved the tub of popcorn with extra butter and the coke, it's a rare treat! They almost ate a whole tub, I was shocked!!! It was a fun night that I hope to be able to save and do once a month with just them and myself! FUN TIMES!

I can say I seem to have grown in these last few days. And I feel GREAT! I hope for everyone in my life to see their change and to continue to grow. Don't let anyone or anything hold you back. Never settle in life, Find your Potential and let it exceed your expectations!!!

Love You ALL!!! Have an AWESOME week!

Snares!!!

Psalm 25:15

15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

I know I've been MIA for a while on my gratitudes. I've been MIA on a lot than just my grats. Can't really put my finger on exactly what. The last few weeks I've just not been myself. I guess I just have a lot going on and figured it best to step out of myself and away from it all. Yeah that doesn't work. I really didn't notice that I had done that either until a few days ago. I've been somewhat numb, guess when so much happens to you, you become numb to almost everything. I've decided that these grats keep me from being totally numb, we all need to feel-even if it is pain!

I was studying today and the verse above is what I stumbled upon! It was perfect for what last night held and what I've seen my friends all go through. A lot of people have been battling and Psalms 25:15 holds that key to the answer! He will pluck us from our troubles if we keep our eyes, minds and hearts on him!

Today I'm grateful for:

Recognizing: Recognizing that I was on the path to being lost once again. Not lost from Christ, but from myself. It took me this long to figure out who I was, I sure don't want to lose it again! The devil tries many techniques to get to us, I think he was trying to take my eyes off of myself so I would get lost and would not feel, then he was going to attack. Well guess what, Christ is on MY side and as long as He is beside me, Devil you will not breakthrough!!!

Releasing: Last nights service we all released things. If you hold onto the things that the Devil uses against you then you will not be able to overcome them. It sounds easy to just let go, but it's not. Baby steps and many made that giant leap. Just hold on to that and don't let those things back into your life. I'm talking to myself to. I've let go of things and grabbed them back. It makes life so much harder, if we all could just let go and TRUST God, our journey would be a lot easier!

Laughing: I want to do this more, I'm trying to learn to laugh and not be so hard all the time. When you are a single mother or any kind of mother then you tend to put on this armor to use and direct your kids that sometimes we forget to have fun with them too. Laughing can cure just about anything. I truly believe that. My goal is to do it more, to lighten up and have fun with my kids.

Seeing: Seeing God's works. People ask how do you know He's real, how do you know that what you are believing in is truly there. You know because you see Him work through your people. Through everyone surrounding you. Speaking things that are the same but giving everyone a different interpretation to speak. Like last night in church. It wasn't just the preacher speaking and teaching. God spoke through us all and we all were teaching each other and Speaking out what he had told. It was one of the best services I've been to! Sometimes things that aren't the normal speak astoundingly.

I am going to be restored! My sickness will leave me, for now I'm going to let it teach me and not let it get me down. I look back a year ago and see that I'm a lot better than I was then!

For all of my friends I hope for you to be restored. Whatever has a hold of you that you fully release it and allow it to teach you and restore you! Don't let the Devil use it against you or use others against you. It's hard, but it's best to walk through your trials and laugh at the Devil for not getting to you! And believing and trusting the Lord to see you through them and help you see what/how he sees it!

Love you all! Have a Great week, It's almost Friday....WooHoo!!!